
Cbss 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Hestonis 



-^9- 



m^p 



!1ANP=B00K 



Atlantic City 



ILLUSTRATED, 



Hind Book of Atlantic City. 



By a. M. HESTON. 



"A Complete Description of tlie Famous Watering Place." 



Its arrangement and typographical appearance 
are a credit to Mr. Heston's enterprise, abUity 
and taste.— Caoe May star 

Tlie City hy the Sea is succinctly descrloed 
and the various places of interest are disposed of 
In one or two very readable chapters.— New York 
Tribune. 

It Is an excellent publication, Invaluable to sum- 
mer tourists to the city by the sea. It contains an 
exhaustive description of all points of interest in 
and about AtlanticCity. This boolc is a marked 
credit to the compiler.— Camden Press. 

It delights everybody by its thorouf^liness of 
everything in and about Atlantic City Peraons 
who think of vls' lug Atlantic City s: »uld -^nd 
for this Hand Bo. and satisfy themselves o^. t. 
pleasures and attr.u 'ions.— Jersey City Heiald. 

Much valuable infi -matlon is given by Mr. He^ 
ton, of the Atlantic . • 'u-nal, in th' little volu , . ■ 
with regard to the p* dar seaside . ^sort.— Pu 'ic 
Ledger, Philadelphia. 

The volume Is somethin£ more than a mere 
Hand Book. It has attr ;;tions and featm-es 
which render It a ^, auabl'^ a* ^ulsition to the home 
or the offlce, and iu, a compendium of information 
on seaside topics it is the comnletest publication 
of the kind we have any know . ige of.— Camden 
Daily Post. 

The book Is complete in eve"/ partJcular, as It 
gives a general idea o' most everniiing relatlne 
to Atlantic City.— West Ciester Local Newp 

It gives a historical sketch o=f therpsoi-l, f^-^e 
scription of all the leudu i. jdac.^s. i^wit-ls pu li.*^- 
buildings, etc., has a map of the cltv and scventy- 
rive beautiful illustrations. No one shoold be 
without this elegant and useful book.— AUantic 
City Season. 

It Is a complete work In its several department^ 
and shows the beautiful city it represents to an 
advantage.— Toms Elver Democrat. 

The book Is complete In every particular, as It 
gives a general idea of mosteverythinv relating to 
Atlantic City.— West Chester Village Hecord. 

A beautiful and Interesting hand book of Atlan- 
tic City.— Salem Sunbean. 



to 



The illustrations are weU chosen, and the rea i 
ing matter has been selected with reference to 
the use for which it was mtended.— Germantov 
Telegraph. 

It is an interesting book, iUustrating the v\ 
derous growth ana many advantages of i 
weU-known and popular resort.— Brldgeton I 
riot. 

It is a very interesting book and one that eve.y 
tom'ist will be glad to obtain.— Brldgeton Pioneer. 
It is tastefully printed and filled with interest- 
ing accounts of the prominent features of life 
down by the sea.— Salem Sunbeam. 

The next best tjiing to seeing a place yourself 
is •{ agood -gi'-'3-book. Those who possess 
^)u ; 0. i of AMa 11. ity will not be disappointed 
I with It in an v way. - Jape May Wave. 
! The wori is a complete and valuable one, 
I ospecialiy to visi-^ors at that resort — Camden 
I c.ur'jr. 



Intf resting book, and one that 
-il b glad to obtain.— WoodbtowD 



It is a 
every tour 
Regivn » 

O^ 'irsf everyvtMtortothe "greatest water- 
ing .!.■ ■ the coun+r'.-" will want a copy of this 
intejt ^" H 'dBc. y -PittsbirgPost. 

ItlsanirTi-'oi Ing guide to the attractions oi 
the famou'' uii mer resort on the New Jereey 
coast. The bootc is appropriately illustrated.— ■ 
Springfield Republican, 

It Is ^te with maps, illustrations, guides to 
olaces interest, c.c. and wiU prove of great 
liiteres', ^o th(; /.housands who have been in th 
habit of going and who may continue to got 
the great City by the Sea.— Mount HoUy MIitoj-. 

It is handsomely gotten up. well printed and 
finelv lllustj-ated. containg lust what every visitr ■ 
as Avell as resident should know respecting Atla i- < 
tic City.- Atlant jc Coast Guide. ^ 

The publication Is gotten up In a ver>' Interest* f 
Ing way and is highly creditable to its author. 
It is worthy of and should have a large clrcul;-- 
tion. -New Jei-sey Coast Pilot. i 

It will be found of great value to all persons 
I who contemplate visiting the famous resort.- - 
Norrlstown Ilerald. 



Copyright, 1891, hy A. M. HKSTON, Atlantic City, 



m^mm 




iLLUSTRSTEt) IjaNlD-gOOR 









Atlantic Gity 




/'THE CITY BY THE SEA." 
Unsurpassed as a Wintf.r, Spring and Summer Resort. 




'Tis the pearly shell, 
That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea ; 
A precious jewel, carved most curiously — 
It is a little picture painted well. 

—J^. W. Gilchr 






PREFACE. 



THIS Illustrated Hand-Book of Atlantic City will serve as a guide to the 
reader, and save him the trouble of asking and answering a thousand 
questions. It contains just what every visitor, as well as resident, ought to 
know respecting the greatest watering place in the country. Many of the illus- 
trations are new, being drawn expressly for this work. The frontispiece, and a 
few others, are the property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, kindly 
loaned for this purpose. The map of Atlantic City is the best work of the kind 
yet published. The descriptive features of the book were written after personal 
visits to the various places of interest in the city. It is hoped, therefore, that the 
Hand-Book will prove not only an invaluable companion on the spot, but an 
ever-welcome and entertaining friend for future perusal and reference at the 
home fireside. The compiler does not presume that the book is faultless ; but to 
approximate such a degree of completeness will be his constant endeavor. He 
will, therefore, be grateful for any errors or omissions pointed out, or corrections 
suggested. 



PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 



IN issuing this Hand-Book for the fourth time (three editions having been pub- 
lished the first year) it is not for the compiler to give any excuse for thrust- 
ing forward again the same subject, other than that the demand has been 
made and the field is open for it. The present edition will be new even to the 
old readers, and will, it is hoped, merit the favor of those into whose hands it 
may chance to fall. 

The Hand-Book will be published annually, with such additions and correc- 
tions from year to year as are necessary to make it a complete guide or reference 
book for visitors to the City by the Sea. The edition of i8S8 is printed from new 
plates, with new illustrations and other attractive features. In succeeding edi- 
tions, as in this, the advertising pages, no less than the descriptive reading matter, 
will be confined to Atlantic City, the promotion and protection of home interests 
being one of the objects of its publication. 

The Compiler. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Map of Atlantic City, 

Principal Hotels and Boarding-Houses. i-i6 

Frontispiece — The Invitation, . . i8 

Poetry, 20 

List of Illustrations, 22 

Preface, 23 

The Sea (poem) ... 24 

En Route, 25 

Summering at Absequan, 30 

Old Times and New, 35 

Past and Present, 39 

Atlantic City, 42 

Whence Came Atlantic City ? 47 

Winter and Spring Seasons 5° 

Health, Rest, and Pleasure, 57 

Summer Days by the Sea, 62 

Boardwalk and Strand, 69 

Mysteries of the Sea, 74 

Stories of Shipwreck , 79 

Gunning and Fishin3^ 84 

Mortuary Statistics 91 

Institutions for the Afflicted , 93 

Longport and Chelsea, 97 

Hints for the Seashore, 100 

Around and About, 106 

Story of the Mermaul, • • • • "3 

Customs of the Aborigine^, Ii6 

Memoranda for Visitors, . . 117 

Atlantic City Hotels, 132 

Along Atlantic Avenue, 140 

All Seasons are Ours 150 

Hotels and Boarding-Houses in Atlantic Cii\ , I53 

Leading Business Houses, I57 ^72 

Map of Seaside Resorts, ... 174 

Press Notices of Hand liook, 175 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Frontispiece — The Invitation, i8 

Moonlight on the Ocean (Initial), 25 

Opera House nv\d yournal Building, 27 

The Indian Lovers (Initial), 30 



View of the Inlet, 



32 



Old Times (Initial), 35 

The Old Way and the New, 36 

Inlet House and Yachts (Initial), 39 

Scene on Pacific Avenue, 40 

Aspiration (Initial), 42 

First Presbyterian Church, 44 

Ready for Business 46 

On the Beach (Initial) 47 

Cottage of Thomas C. Hand, 48 

Water Sketch (Initial), 50 

On the Strand, 51 

Solid Comfort ... 53 

Crabbing Outfit (Initial), 57 

Sunrise on the Sea, 58 

Cottage of William C. Houston, 59 

The Regatta (Initial), 62 

United States Hotel, 64 

Boardwalk and Ocean Pier 65 

The Iron Pier, 67 

Yachting (Initial), 69 

Lighthouse and Life-Saving Station, 70 

Bathing at Pennsylvania Avenue, 72 

Sea Shells (Initial), 74 

Pacific and States Avenues, 76 

To the Rescue, 79 

The Wreck, 82 

"God Knows," . 83 

The Fisherman (Initial), 84 

Wild Duck in Grassy Bay, 85 

Trolling for Blue Fish, 86 

Duck Shooting on the Meadows, 89 

The Adieu (Initial), 93 

Mercer Home, 94 

Fishing in the Thoroughfare (Initial), 97 

Mrs. Oberholtzer's Cottage, 98 

Shell Sketch (Initial), 100 

Attractive Cottages, 101 

The Traymore House, . . . . f 102 

Michigan Building, 103 

The Hotel Brighton, 105 

Cottage of B. H. Brown (Initial), 106 

The Lighthouse, 108 

Academy of the Sacred Heart, 11 1 

Real Estate and Law Building, 112 

The Fisherman and the Mermaid 113 

"Comin", Sah !" (Initial), 132 

Cottage of A. M. Heston 137 

Street Scene on Atlantic Avenue, 140 

Music Hall and Post-Office, 143 

Atlantic City National Bank, 147 

23 



THE SEA. 



Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 

Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time 

Calm or convulsed — in breeze or gale or storm, 

Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 

Dark-heaving ; boundless and sublime — 

The image of Eternity — the throne 

Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime 

The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone 

Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. 

And I have loved thee. Ocean ! and my joy 
Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be 
Borne, like thy bubbles, onward : from a boy 
I wantoned with thy breakers — they to me 
Were a delight ; and if the freshening sea 
Made them a terror, 'twas a pleasing fear. 
For I was as it were a child of thee, 
And trusted to thy billows far and near. 
And laid my hand upon thy mane — as I do here. 

Thou art so grand, so wonderful, O Sea! 

In all thy depths and whispering mystery — 

Forever chafing 'gainst thy destiny, 

Forever telling o'er thy tale to me. 

Thou art the pulsing, throbbing heart of earth — 

Throbbing in chaos, ere the world had birth — 

Still art thou heaving, surging 'gainst her girth. 

Thou and the earth, twin-sisters, as they say, 
In the old prime were fashioned in one day ; 
And therefore thou delightest evermore 
With her to lie and play 
The Surtimer hours away, 
Curling thy loving ripples upon her quiet shore. 

Sunlight and moonlight minister to thee — 
O'er the broad circle of the shoreless sea 

Heaven's two great lights forever set and rise ; 
While the round vault above. 
In vast and silent love, 
Is gazing down upon thee with his hundred eyes. 

Sometimes thou liftest up thine hands on high 
Into the tempest-cloud that bluis the sky, 
Holding rough dalliance with the fitful blast. 
Whose stiff breath, whistling shrill. 
Pierces, with deadly chill. 
The wet crew feebly clinging to the shattered mast. 

Foam white along the border of the sho'^e 
Thine onward leaping billows plunge and roar; 
While o'er the pebbly ridges .slowly glide 
Cloaked figures, dim and gray, 
Through the thick mist of spray — 
Watchers for some struck vessel in the boiling tide. 

All night thou utterest forth thy solemn moan. 
Counting the weary minutes all alone ; 
'J'hen in the morning thou dost calmly lie. 
Deep-blue, ere yet the sun 
His day-work hath begun, 
Under the opening windows of the golden sky. 

LoKD Byron, in Childe Harold. 
24 



Eri I^oute. 



The sea, the sea, the open sea ! 
The blue, the fresh, the ever free ! 

* * ^ * ^ * 

I never was on the dull, tame shore, 
But I loved the great sea more and more, . 
And backward flew to her billowy breast, 
Like a bird that seeketh her mother's nest. 

— Barry Cornwall. 



ANCY one's selt 
seated in a com- 
fortable railway 
coach, and the 
ride from Phila- 
delphia to Atlan- 
tic City in search 
of health or pleas- 
ure is not entirely 
_ devoid of inter- 
est. The traveler has the choice of three routes, two of which are a 
part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The other route is by 
way of the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad, operated by 
the Reading Company, which starts from the foot of Walnut 
Street. The popular routes, however, are the West Jersey and the 
Camden and Atlantic, operated by the Pennsylvania Company. 
Crossing from the foot of Market Street, Philadelphia, the traveler 
takes the West Jersey cars at Camden and passes south near the 
Delaware River to Gloucester, a city of over six thousand inhab- 
itants, devoted to manufacturing. It was founded in 1689, and 
was held by Lord Cornwallis, with five thousand British troops, in 
1777. The next station is Westville, near the mouth of Timber 
Creek, where Captain Cornelius Jacobese Mey, of the Dutch West 
3 25 




26 Hand- Bo ok of Atlantic City. 

India Company, founded Fort Nassau in 162 1. The Colonists 
were soon at feud with the Indians, and being decoyed into an un- 
favorable position, they were all massacred and the fort was 
destroyed. The train next passes the city of Woodbury, which 
one authority says should be spelled Woodberry, a place of about 
four thousand inhabitants, many of them Philadelphia business 
men. The place takes it name from the family of Woods, who 
came from Berry, m Lancashire, England, in 1684. Richard 
Wood, the first settler, came out with the earliest emigrants to 
Philadelphia. Leaving his family in that town, he descended the 
Delaware and paddled two or three miles up the Piscozackasingz- 
Kil, now called Woodbury Creek, until he came to a likely place 
for an habitation. In the winter of 1777, Lord Cornwallis had 
his headquarters in the village of Woodbury. During his stay 
some of his men seized a valuable cow belonging to an ardent 
Whig. The latter waited upon his Lordship and requested a 
restoration of the property. Cornwallis was desirous of knowing 
the political principles of the man. The sturdy patriot tried to 
evade the question, but at length — cow or no cow — the truth would 
out, when his Lordship, in admiration of the man's independence, 
restored to him his cow. Succeeding stations are Wenonah, a very 
pretty suburban village, Sewell, Pitman Grove, and Glassboro, the 
latter a town of four thousand inhabitants. The place was settled 
by a family of Germans named Stangeer, in the latter half of the 
eighteenth century, who commenced the manufacture of glass. 
They failed in business, and the works were purchased in 1781 by 
Colonel Thomas Heston, a Revolutionary patriot. The place was 
known as Heston' s Glass Works until some years after, when, at 
the suggestion of a member of the celebrated Gloucester Fox 
Hunting Club, on the occasion of a convivial gathering at Colonel 
Heston 's house, after a hunt and capture of Reynard, the name 
was changed to Glassboro, and has ever since borne that name. 
The works are still in the possession of Colonel Heston's de- 
scendants, the Whitneys — his daughter, Bathsheba, having mar- 
ried Captain Eben Whitney — and are the largest as well as the 
oldest in the country. Beyond Clayton, with its three thousand 
inhabitants, the train passes the vineyards of Franklinville, lona, 
and Malaga, and thence to Newfield, where express trains some- 
times stop. After leaving Newfield, there are two or three small 
hamlets before reaching May's Landing, the county seat of Atlantic 
County, containing about one thousand inhabitants. This village 
was founded by George May in 1710, and is at the head of navi- 
gation on the Great Egg Harbor River. The greatest water power 
in the State is at this place, furnishing motive power for a large 
cotton mill, owned by the Wood brothers, one of whom is President 
of the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad. 

In the latter part of 1S13, the sloop New Jersey, from May's Land- 



En Route, 



27 



ing,^ manned by Captain Barton and two hands, was taken by a 
British armed schooner off Cape May. A young middy, two Eng- 
lishmen and an Irishman were put on board the Jersey, with orders 




OPERA HOUSE AND JOURNAL BUILDING. 



to follow the schooner. But three Yankees were not to be beaten by 
such poor odds as this. Barton and his men soon recovered com- 
mand of the sloop aiid run her in at Somers' Point, with the middy 



28 Hand- Book of Atlantic City* 

and his three assistants as prisoners. The first was confined for 
awhile and then exchanged, and of the latter, the two Englishmen 
soon went to work in the neighborhood, and the Irishman enlisted 
on board one of Jefferson's gun-boats and fought bravely for the 
'^ gridiron.' ' The last station before reaching Atlantic City is Pleas- 
antville, a thriving village, situated on a bluff overlooking the bay. 

If the traveler prefers, he may return to Philadelphia by another 
route, round-trip tickets being good on either of the two roads op- 
erated by the Pennsylvania Company. Absecon, the first station, is 
situated on the bay shore two miles above Pleasantville, and is inhab- 
ited by a considerable number of well-to-do people, many of whom 
are either commanders of or interested in vessel property. The 
history of the town dates from 1695, when Thomas Budd, the owner 
of many thousand acres of land on the beaches and the mainland, 
disposed of large tracts to actual settlers. Each of his deeds has this 
clause inserted : " With the privilege of cutting cedar, and com- 
monidge for cattell, etc., on ye swamps and beaches laid out by ye 
said Thomas Budd for commons." The exaction of these privileges 
at this date would cause much trouble, as a large portion of the 
built-up portion of Atlantic City stands upon one of the surveys of 
Thomas Budd. 

Above Absecon is Egg Harbor City, a German settlement, where 
the celebrated Egg Harbor wines are made. Elwood is the site of 
a projected city, with parks, avenues, and squares laid out on the 
long reaches of sandy soil. Hammonton, midway between Atlantic 
City and Camden, is a prosperous town of three thousand inhabit- 
ants, settled by New Englanders in i860, and situated on the old 
pine plains of Atlantic County. The town is beautifully laid out 
and the inhabitants are largely engaged in fruit raising. The train 
passes Winslow, Waterford, Atco, Berlin, Kirkwood, and other 
smaller villages before reaching Haddonfield, six miles from Cam- 
den. This is a borough of two thousand inhabitants, where many 
Philadelphia business men have their suburban homes. It was set- 
tled by Friends or Quakers in 1690 and was named after an eminent 
Quakeress named Elizabeth Haddon. The Continental Congress 
remained several weeks here, and the place was afterward occupied 
by British troops. Several very interesting Revolutionary incidents 
connected with Haddonfield have found their way into print, but 
are too lengthy to be copied into this Hand-Book. During the 
French Revolution, Louis Philippe, who subsequently became King 
of France, made his home for a short time with one of the Quaker 
families of the village. Leaving Haddonfield, the train passes 
through a pretty country, and finally reaches Camden, whence the 
ferry-boats convey the passengers to Philadelphia. The distance is 
sixty-four miles by the West Jersey route, and sixty by the Camden 
and Atlantic, and the time is usually about ninety minutes. Through- 
out the winter, spring, and summer seasons there are frequent ex- 



En Route. 



29 



press trains over both roads, and attached to each train are elabo- 
rately furnished parlor cars in charge of attentive porters. 

The special care in the management of both roads is exhibited 
in the regularity with which the trains are run, the close connection 
maintained with other railroads, by which transfers may be made 
without delay, and the absence of serious accident within recent 
years. For several years the Pennsylvania Company has made an 
effort to meet travel from points beyond the line of the Camden and 
Atlantic and West Jersey Roads, and the schedules are now arranged 
with the view of securing by close connection the convenience of 
parties arriving from New York and points beyond, and of those 
coming upon the numerous lines centering in Philadelphia. It is 
specially a passenger railway company, and to satisfy this trade it is 
constantly adding first-class facilities in every branch of its business. 
Indeed, in equipment and management the Company has no equal 
among the lines running to the seacoast. 




^ummeping at Jibsequan. 





before the first settlement of the 
colony of Nova Csesarea, or New 
Jersey, by Europeans, the In- 
dians who inhabited its broad 
forests instituted summer excur- 
sions to the seashore. It is re- 
corded by old writers that the 
earliest white inhabitants found 
that the Indians who lived along 
the Jersey side of the Delaware had trails 
to various places on the coast. Along 
these narrow pathways they made annual 
summer journeys for the purpose of fish- 
ing, fowling and bathing. The queen, 
the princesses and the squaws spent 
much of the cold season tanning deer 
skins and making them into robes, the 
latter being embroidered with pearls procured from various 
kinds of shell fish, or with the seeds of wild fruits, such as the 
cherry, persimmon, sassafras and brier vine. Many necklaces, 
bracelets, anklets and head bands were formed of similar articles. 
They also made and embroidered the robes for the chief, the fight- 
ing braves and the male Indians of a lower rank. They manufac- 
tured the baskets which were taken to the seacoast to be filled with 
the eggs of the water fowl, or with fish, oysters, wild cherries, 
whortleberries and persimmons. The male aborigines manufactured 
bows, arrows, arrowheads, quivers, tomahawks and scalping knives, 
and killed deer and other animals to procure skins of which to 
make the robes and other articles to be worn. Thus both the men 
and the women contributed their share toward a pleasant sojourn 
at the seashore. When the warm days of May came the squaws 
hurried to plant the Indian corn in order to be ready for the 
30 



Summering at Absequan, 31 

journey, and with the advent of June the tribe was ready for the 
march to the chosen spot by the sea. The men armed themselves 
with their tomahawks, scalping knives, bows, and quivers full of 
arrows and arrowheads. The mother squaws lashed their black- 
eyed pappooses to their shoulders and then further encumbered 
themselves with baskets and other articles which would be needed 
at the summer encampment. Thus equipped, the whole tribe started 
in Indian file along the shaded path, as cheerful and happy as the 
passengers of a modern railroad palace car en route to Atlantic 
City. 

When night came the tribe encamped in the forest, ate their 
suppers, and lighted fires to keep the wild beasts at a respectful 
distance. Then they would lay down upon the ground to sleep, 
and perhaps dream of anticipated pleasures at the seashore. Fre- 
quently their slumbers were disturbed by the hooting of the owls, 
the screams of the panthers, and the howling of the wolves which 
infested the surrounding wilderness. As soon as the morning sun 
gilded the tops of the trees they arose and partook of a breakfast 
of venison and parched corn, and then took a final start for their 
place of summer encampment on Absequan, or, as we now call it, 
Absecon Beach, whose oyster beds were a god-send to the aborig- 
ines. 

Having arrived at the seashore they prepared for a sojourn of 
many weeks by erecting temporary lodges of skins or cedar bark 
and boughs, where they lived and feasted on the luxuries so boun- 
tifully supplied by the waters, the marshes and the forests. When 
so inclined they sung their uncouth songs and danced their 
peculiar dances. Sometimes they bathed in the surf and made 
merry as only savages can. They visited the tribe that had a per- 
manent residence on Minicunk Island, further up the coast, and 
doubtless enjoyed these sociables as though they themselves and 
their rude entertainers were people of the highest civilization. 
When not thus engaged, the men went fishing, fowling, searching 
for the eggs of the marsh hens and gulls, or gathered shell fish on 
the flats of the bay. The Indians regarded June as the '* month 
of eggs," for then mud hens, willets and gulls made their nests, in 
which each bird deposited a dozen or fifteen beautifully spotted 
eggs about half the size of a domestic hen's ^gg. 

The visiting Indians would often borrow from Minicunk tribe 
their cedar-log canoes or dug-outs, and taking their baskets with 
them they would paddle up the Thoroughfare and over the bay to a 
cluster of islands now called the Seven Islands, in accordance with 
their number. Having reached one of the islands, they went on 
shore with their baskets, which were soon filled with eggs, the 
nests being numerous. When the baskets were filled the joyful 
egg-gatherers paddled back to their encampment, when the whole 
tribe joined in a feast of roasted or boiled eggs. 



HP^ 




, Ml 'V 111 



Summering at Absequan, 33 

To the Indians the seacoast from Little Egg Harbor to Great 
Egg Harbor was an earthly paradise, given them by the great 
Manitou, but probably with the reservation that at some future 
time it would be assigned to a more intelligent and enterprising 
race of human beings. While the men of the tribe were engaged 
in procuring provisions, the women attended to the children, 
cooked the food procured by their lords and masters, gathered the 
materials, and made circular beds of fire on which to roast terrapin, 
oysters and clams. At this encampment the chief of the tribe 
strutted about, proudly displaying his white and purple pearl- 
embroidered costume, deeming himself the most gorgeously dressed 
and greatest monarch on earth. Of course, the young braves 
wooed the dark-eyed and gayly-dressed maidens and marriages 
were as frequently contracted at the seashore in those times as in 
these later days. 

Doubtless the Indians enjoyed their savage way of living and 
their peculiar pastimes at the seashore quite as much as do the 
visitors of to-day, who bring their money, diamonds and other 
costly jewels and robe themselves in their silks, their satins, their 
velvets, or other profusion of finery. Moreover, the wealthy, beau- 
tiful and intelligent seaside visitors of to-day, residing in palatial 
hotels or fancifully constructed cottages, and living on luxuries 
from every nation of the earth, lovfe, envy or hate each other the 
same as the Indians who patronized these beaches centuries ago. 

A certain William Wood, in his description of New Jersey, pub- 
lished in 1634, gives us an idea of some of the habits of our abo- 
riginal friends, the Jersey Indians, in the following classic lines : 

" The dainty Indian maise 
Was eat with clamp-shells out of wooden trays, 
The luscious lobster with the craw-fish raw, 
The brinnish oyster, mussel, periwigge, 
And tortoise sought by the Indian squaw, 
Which to the flats dance many a winter's jigge, 
To dive for cockles and to dig for clams. 
Whereby her lazy husband's guts she crammsy 

The last line of the foregoing beautiful stanza is most likely 
literally true. A similar practice is prevalent in some sections of 
the State even unto this day, being one of the habits of the aborigi- 
nes which our lazy forefathers were quick to adopt and transmit to 
succeeding generations. In every community there are men whose 
wives, like the Indian squaw, are required to do all the drudgery 
and often feed and clothe the indolent lords of creation. 

These aboriginal Jerseymen were a festive race. Besides the 
annual visits to the seashore, they had a great festival or green corn 
dance, at which they ate enormous quantities of baked soquanock, 
or hard-shell clams, and sickissuog, or soft-shell clams. They 



34 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

utilized the colored shells of the poquanhock for coin, by cutting 
out the central black portion, which in Indian numismatics was 
called luckahuok, or black money. Black money had twice the 
value of white money or wampum. 

When the melancholy winds of October began to blow, the 
Indians prepared to leave their temporary wigwams at the seashore. 
They loaded themselves with dried shell-fish, some winkle shells 
for drinking cups, and a few large seashells intended for crockery 
ware in the winter wigwams. The mothers lashed their pappooses 
to their shoulders, and with a string of dried shell-fish on each 
arm they were equipped for the journey. The men carried their 
bows and arrows, besides bundles of wild fowl or strings of dried 
shell-fish, and the whole tribe then commenced the journey back 
to their winter wigwams. 

Generations have come and gone since the Indians ceased travel- 
ing their well-known trails to the seashore, and everything about 
the country is changed. Only the ocean is the same. The red 
man no longer shoots his sharp arrows at the immense flocks of 
water fowl, nor draws the fluttering fish from the briny waters, nor 
chases the swiftly bounding deer through the grand old solitudes. 
No longer does the Indian lover wander through the woodland 
with his swarthy maiden, talking in tones of love as the whippoor- 
will chants its twilight song in the topmost branches of the trees. 
No longer does the lover tell the maiden that her eyes are as 
bright as the moon on an April night, her hair as black and glossy 
as the raven's wing, and her form as graceful as that of the gentle 
fawn. No longer do the Indians listen to the grinding of the 
shingle in the surf, nor to the drum of the ocean as it marshals its 
forces for a northeast storm, believing it to be the voice of the Sea 
King who dwells in the bosom of the Great Sea Water. All are 
gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds, where they will dwell in the 
smiles of the Great Spirit forever. 



Old ^imes and jleYl. 




HE building of the Cam- 
den and Atlantic Railroad 
inaugurated a change from 
the old-time method of 
reaching the seashore. Be- 
fore the days of Atlantic 
City, a generation or two 
ago, seashore pilgrimage 
was a dusty and weary 
penance. If one started 
from Philadelphia, the jour- 
ney to Long Branch was by 
the way of the old Camden and 
Amboy Railroad to Hightstown, 
and thence in the lumbering 
Jersey-wagon, over the sandy 
road, to the sea. The travelers 
started aboyt sunrise, and 
thought themselves lucky if they 
reached the coast in time for 
supper. 

Of all wheeled vehicles, the 
greatest atrocity was the Jersey- 
wagon. It seemed to have been 
designed by the Shakers in pro- 
^^^^_^______ _ test of every semblance of com- 

fort. Its back and sides \\ ci e as free from graceful curves as a ready- 
made coffin. It had springs, but they were cumbrous contrivances 
of unyielding wood, so constructed as to make riding a weariness 
to the flesh. The horses were urged to a jog-trot by the driver with 
repeated blows of a whip, which was generally so worn out as to be 
destitute of a lash. The more robust passengers, on arriving at 
their destination, were able to climb out of the wagon, but feebler 
ones and the invalids had to be lifted out. 

In dusty weather the accumulation of grime on the faces of the 
passengers was so great as to make them resemble natives of the in- 
terior of Africa. Cape May was reached by steamboats, whose voy- 
age consumed the best part of a day. There was also a stage line 

35 



36 



Hand' Book oj Atlantic City. 



from Camden to Cape May. The Jersey-wagons left Camden at 
four o'clock in the morning and reached Cape May about midnight. 




The passengers stopped for three meals, and the voracious green- 
head flies made one continuous meal off of the passengers. 

Long Branch then consisted of a few very plain hotels, mostly two 



Old Times a?id New. 37 

stories in height. The houses at Cape May, which were generally 
white, had red shingle roofs. Scattered along the coast were farm- 
houses where boarders were taken at low rates. The proprietors 
were not versed in the arts of modern hotel-keeping. They fed their 
guests on chicken, fish and oysters. The chickens and fish were 
served at the regular meals, and the oysters were in a heap under 
a shed, where the boarders were free to go and eat as many as they 
chose to open. A quarter of a dollar a day would pay for a boat 
and bait for fishing or crabbing. This, it should be remembered, 
was before Atlantic City was even thought of. Four or five dollars 
a week paid for board at the boarding-houses. The leading hotels 
charged ten dollars a week ; but one or two, in order to show their 
superiority, laid on an extra half dollar, making the price ten and a 
half a week. 

And yet, with all the hardships and roughness of a seashore holi- 
day, they had glorious times in those primitive days. There was 
a delightful simplicity. Within reasonable bounds, people did very 
much as they pleased. There was no rowdying nor any drunken- 
ness, and gambling was unknown. When the men went fishing 
in the morning they rolled up their trowsers to the knees; when 
they " dressed for dinner," it was simply to roll them down again. 
It is all changed now. The ride from Philadelphia to Atlantic 
City is made in ninety minutes by rail, and the traveler has the 
choice of three roads. Cape May is reached in something over 
two hours. The surf beats on the beach exactly as it did of old, 
but modern civilization has made bathing in it a luxury, instead of 
the bothersome penance our fathers found it. 

There is a wide contrast between the old and new, and with the 
exception of a few very ancient people, every one is agreed that 
the new ways are much superior to the old. In the matter of sea- 
side comfort and pleasure, the weight of public opinion is largely 
on the side of Atlantic City, which has eclipsed the older but less 
favored resorts along the coast. The attractions here do not depend 
on any special conditions. Atlantic City seems to have been 
marked out by nature as a point where all the forces needed for the 
constitution of a complete resort should centralize. The beach is 
fine, the surf-bathing famous, the fishing and sailing superb. The 
city is well supplied with every convenience that can contribute to 
the health and comfort of its inhabitants. 

What could have been more perfect than the conception of this 
great seaside resort by its founders ? They prophesied that it 
would stand pre-eminent among its kind. Looking at it to-day, in 
an impartial sense, the visitor immediately arrives at the conclusion 
that Atlantic City is the queen of watering places and the predic- 
tions of its original owners have been fulfilled. Bustle and life are 
exhibited at every step, activity is everywhere, and amidst the 
whirling of amusement male and female alike are enjoying them- 



3» 



nana-nook of Atia?iric Ctty. 



selves in one continual round. At the rising of Old Sol until long 
after the shadows of twilight have deepened into night, the ball of 
unalloyed enjoyment rolls merrily along. There is no monotony 
on the island, or if there is it keeps itself carefully concealed in 
some of the hotels that never advertise. There are all sorts of 
architecture, all sorts of life, and all sorts of people in the place — 
high-toned, low-toned, betwixt-and-between, fair to middling, 
half-and-half, black and white, old gold, turkey red, and chrome 
yellow. If you don't see what you want, it is because you haven't 
asked for it. 




Past and Present. 



ANY years before the birth of Atlantic City, that is, in the 
early days of American history, all the population of 
what afterward became the United States 
lived near the Atlantic coast, and 

for many 

"^p years after 
the Revo- 
lution the 
inhabitants 
had pene- 




trated but comparatively a short distance in- 
land, so that the ocean, with its indenting 
bays and sounds, and the rivers emptying 
into it along every part of the coast, fur- 
nished attractive facilities for habitation and 
pleasure. The seashore was easy of access in 
summer time, even for that portion of the 
population most remote from the coast, and the delights of the 
element were available for a people seemingly amphibious by 
nature, by history and by practice— a people who had little idea 
of recreation that was not conducted near the seashore. 

Although the people of the United States are now scattered far 
and wide over countless square miles of country, until they have 
occupied nearly every portion of a territory lying between two great 

39 



40 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



oceans three thousand miles apart, and with an expanse from north 
to south nearly as great, they have not lost the distinguishing 
traits of their early history, but still have an inherent love for Old 
Ocean. Watering-places are as much a necessity to denizens of 
the interior as to those living in States bordering on the Atlantic 



n 



— - -^-t j^ ^^ j ^y .^^ 




'wK^Bk 



%\ 



SCENE ON PACIFIC AVENUE, LOOKING 
EASTWARD, 

Ocean. Descendants of the 
fathers still love the ocean 
haunts and seashore resorts, 
and year after year there are 
pilgrimages to the ocean from 
every inland section, the de- 
votees traveling thousands of 
miles and numbering hundreds 
of thousands of souls,annually. 
In process of time favorable situations upon the Atlantic coast 
have become well known, even famous, among comiliunities a 
thousand miles away from the sound of the surf or sight of the 
rolling billow, and it has come to pass that people of these inland 
sections know the seashore better than some who dwell within 
reach of the ocean breezes. Among the places thus distinguished 



Fast and Present. 



41 



and highly favored none present more of intrinsic merit than 
Atlantic City, the great American winter and summer sanitarium. In 
point of mild climatic influences, and situations affording summer 
conditions prolonged throughout a greater portion of the year, some 
places lying in the lower latitudes of this country may be considered 
superior, when those conditions alone are considered, but with 
regard to all other features characterizing the place, Atlantic City 
stands above and beyond any other resort on the Atlantic coast. 

The Atlantic City beach has become celebrated as among the 
finest on the coast of the United States. The surf, pouring in- 
ward from the expanse of a great ocean and washing a beach of 
clearest sands, which glitter in the summer sunrays and send back 
in myriad flashing streams the water which never ceases thus to 
advance and retreat ; the endless panorama of life upon the water, 
the strand, and the boardwalk, constantly in motion and ever- 
changing ; the rolling porpoise enlivening the outlook ; the light- 
house and hfe-saving station at the inlet— all these and many other 
attractions are found at Atlantic City, to say nothing of the mild 
and healthful climate in winter, the cool, invigorating breezes in 
summer, and the proximity to centres which renders its location 
within such easy reach that its denizens may, within a few hours, 
find themselves in either, of the great cities of New York, Phila- 
delphia or Baltimore. 




.^^^-, 



^.^V 






yitlaritic City. 



There is that lovely island fair, 

And the pale health-seeker findeth there 

The wine of life in its pleasant air. 



TLANTIC CITY, the most 
popular resort on the Atlantic 
coast, is situated between Ab- 
secon Inlet and Great Egg 
Harbor Inlet, within sixty miles 
of Philadelphia and one hun- 
dred and fifty miles of New 
York, by railroad. It is dis- 
tant five miles from the main- 
land, the intervening space 
being an expanse of salt marshes. 
The island, in its chrysalis con- 
dition, before it felt the electric 
touch of a railroad, was known 
as Absecon Beach, which name 
still exists in the adjoining vil- 
lage of Absecon, now put com- 
pletely in the shade by its suc- 
cessful neighbor, and in the official name of the lighthouse, Abse- 
con Light. As stated in a preceding chapter, it is reached by 
three railroads from Philadelphia — the Camden and Atlantic, West 
Jersey and Atlantic, and the Philadelphia and Atlantic City. 
From New York and the East the Pennsylvania Railroad via 
Trenton connects with the West Jersey road at Camden. The 
time from Philadelphia is one hour and a half, and from New 
York four hours and a half. The Philadelphia and Atlantic City 
railroad connects with the New Jersey Southern and Central Rail- 
road of New Jersey, from New York. 

Jeremiah Leeds was probably the first permanent resident of the 
island. He came here in 1783, when a pair of boots or a roll of 
42 




Atlantic City. 43 

calico would have bought the entire island. The early history of 
Absecon Beach is filled with stories of drowning, piracy and 
shipwreck. According to tradition, vessels were lured ashore on 
dark and stormy nights by false beacons erected on poles. When 
the crews had been drowned or individually knocked on the head, 
so the stories go, the crafts were plundered of everything of 
value. One chronicler boldly asserts, with apparent perversion of 
the truth, that, even after the first church was built, a lookout was 
added above the cupola, in which a man was stationed during 
service to promptly acquaint the devout congregation of a disaster, 
so that rival wreckers in the neighborhood of Barnegat or Brigan- 
tine should not get the start of them. Another prevaricating 
writer says that the children were taught to lisp the affecting prayer 
that may still be heard in undertone in some of the oldest house- 
holds off shore, uttered from sheer force of habit: ''God bless 
mam, pap, and all us poor, miserable sinners, and send a ship 
ashore before morning." 

Long before the days of railroads Absecon Beach bore the grue- 
some name among sailors of " Jack's Graveyard." There was no 
lighthouse then, and often the beach was strewn with wreck, and 
among the debris many a time lay the dead body of a sailor. Ovei 
at Absecon they still tell thrilling stories of drowning and ship- 
wreck. Besides the Leeds family, two other families owned most 
of the land on which Atlantic City is built — the Steelmans and 
Chamberlains. The mother of the numerous Leeds progeny kept 
the old Atlantic House as a tavern for oystermen and traders. It 
IS the oldest house in Atlantic City, and was built about the year 
1812, but has since been enlarged. It originally stood near the 
Thoroughfare at Baltic and Florida Avenues, but was moved to its 
present site on Baltic Avenue, near Massachusetts. 

Forty years ago the location of Atlantic City was still an almost 
uninhabited island. It was so uninviting that when the project to 
make it a summer resort was instituted, the idea was ridiculed as be- 
ing utterly impracticable and scarcely worth the consideration of 
sane men. Said a conservative old capitalist: '' Callitasand-patch, 
a desolation, a swamp, a mosquito territory, but do not talk to me 
about any city in such a place as that. In the first place, you can't 
build a city there, and, in the second place, if you did, you 
couldn't get anybody to go there." The conservative old capi- 
talist was in due time gathered unto his fathers, and the enterprising 
men who set to work to plant a city have had the satisfaction of 
seeing more than their most sanguine expectations realized. 

The island began to awaken from its slumbering obscurity in the 
early part of 1852, when a glass manufacturer of New Jersey, labor- 
ing under the difficulties produced by almost impassable roads and 
consequent delays in the transportation of goods to Philadelphia, 
conceived the idea of starting a railroad. Besides this plan for in- 



44 Hand-Book of Atlantic City, 

creasing his own business facilities, he also proposed to make .the 
new road an outlet from Philadelphia to the sea, as well as a valuable 
freight transport for a manufacturing district. This was Samuel 
Richards, the first mover in the creation of Atlantic City, and now 
the only survivor of the original board of directors of the Camden 
and Atlantic Railroad Company. His associates were Hon. Andrew 
K. Hay, Stephen Colwell, John C. DeCosta, Joseph Porter, William 
Coffin, Enoch Doughty and Jonathan R. Pitney. The first pro- 
jecting visit to the solitary marshes and sand-hills of what is now 
Atlantic City was made in the early part of 1852 j an act of incor- 
poration was obtained in the spring, and in September of the same 
year a contract was made for the construction of the road. The 
engineer was Richard B. Osborne. The road was completed and 
passenger trains were run on it for the first time on July i, 1854. 
Meanwhile Bedloe's Hotel and a little house called Cottage Retreat 
had been erected and the United States Hotel was so nearly com- 
pleted that the first excursionists, numbering six hundred, were given 
dinner there. The next year the Surf House, Congress Hall, an- 
other hotel and two cottages on Tennessee Avenue went up. As an 
adjunct to and arising out of the railroad company, the Camden and 
Atlantic Land Company was organized and chartered. This com- 
pany purchased the land for seventeen dollars and fifty cents per 
acre. The money was paid over in old Aunt Hannah Shillingsworth's 
Hotel in Absecon. Then began the rise in values that has made so 
many people rich, though, with the usual irony of fate, the descend- 
ants of the original owners and settlers are still poor. Much of the 
land is now valued at one hundred dollars per lineal foot. The 
same land was purchased by Jeremiah Leeds in 1783 at forty cents 
an acre. The city was incorporated immediately after the purchase 
of the land, but for the first year or two it took nearly all the men 
among the permanent residents to fill the offices. Chalkley S. Leeds 
was the first mayor. The city limits now cover about one-third of 
the entire island. The original boundary was from the inlet to 
California Avenue, but the lower limit was afterward extended ta 
Dry Inlet. 

Although scarcely more than a quarter of a century old, Atlantic 
City is undoubtedly the most popular of all seaside resorts. Its won- 
derful growth in the last twenty years, its rise from an uninhabited 
series of sand-hills and a long stretch of sandy beach, where the only 
visitors were countless numbers of sea fowls, would be even more 
remarkable had it not been for its admirable situation, delightful 
climate, and contiguity to Philadelphia. 

In 1876 the increasing importance of the place made another 
railroad desirable, and the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad 
Company was incorporated. The construction was commenced in 
April, 1877, and the first through train was run on June 25th of the 
same year. It is now operated by what is commonly known as the 



46 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 

Reading Company, of Philadelphia. The competing facilities af- 
forded by this road have been of the greatest benefit to the city and 
have aided materially in the development of the place. 

Early in the spring of 1880 the West Jersey Division of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad extended its line to Atlantic City. The opening 
of the West Jersey was of exceptional benefit to the city, since a 
direct route to New York city, without change of cars, was thereby 
afforded. 

The nomenclature of the streets of Atlantic City is especially 
happy. The great main avenues running parallel with the ocean, 
five hundred and fifty feet apart, have a breezy suggestiveness of 
coolness in their names — Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic — while the 
wide thoroughfares that cross them at right angles, bearing the 
names of the States of the Union, illustrate the patriotism of those 
who founded the city. 

The advancement of Atlantic City since the completion of the 
three railroads has been unprecedented in the history of watering- 
places and health resorts, even in this progressive country, and sug- 
gests a comparison with the magic progress of Chicago, Denver or 
Leadville. The city has spread itself, literally as well as figuratively, 
in actual size as well as in population, and the value of property has 
increased tenfold. Lots on Atlantic Avenue now sell for from one 
hundred dollars to three hundred dollars per foot, and choice lots 
on Pacific Avenue bring as much as one hundred and twenty-five 
dollars per foot. The tendency is still upward in every part of the 
city. 




Whence Came Atlantic City? 



I will learn of thee a prayer, 

To Him who gave a home so fair, 

A lot so blest as ours — 
The God who made for thee and me, 
This sweet, fair isle amid the sea. 

—William Cullen Bryant. 



T is apparent that the fame of 
Atlantic City is grounded not 
alone upon those qualities which 
give it prominence as a summer 
resort. It is a great seaside city, 
where in every part of the year 
the health and pleasure seekers 
crowd the hotels and lounge on 
its famous beach. In summer the 
magnificent bathing and the fa- 
mous fishing and sailing attract 
thousands; in winter the genial 
temperature, bright sky, and other 
delightful features make it the stop- 
ping-place for a grand army of 
those who seek to escape the rigor 
of northern climes. The resident population of Atlantic City has 
increased within ten years from twenty-two hundred to ten 
thousand, while in summer the visitors increase the population to 
seventy-five thousand. There are several good schools, with an 
attendance of two thousand school children, Presbyterian, Epis- 
copal, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches, Friends' 
Meeting House, a City Hall, and a large and very attractive Opera 
House. 

As a winter resort Atlantic City is largely patronized, not only 
by people from Baltimore and Philadelphia, but by many from 
New York and the Eastern cities. The wonderful tonic and cura- 
tive influence of the sea air has been thoroughly tested within 
recent years, and hundreds have been benefited by a sojourn at the 
seaside in the winter. 

47 




48 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



The peculiarity of Atlantic City's position, the salubrity of its 
climate, the singular dryness of the atmosphere, and the mildness 
of the temperature render the place a desirable resort in the fall 
and spring as well as the winter months. Hot and cold sea- 
water baths are provided throughout the year. 

Convalescents from typhoid fever, those suffering from malaria 
and bronchial troubles, or those who desire and need rest from 
the cares and anxieties of their daily vocations, can here derive 
great benefit. If they will learn the hygienic advantages of Atlantic 




COTTAGE OF THOMAS C. HAND, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. 



City they will cease to go long distances or undertake tedious 
journeys. 

The well-ascertained salubrity of Atlantic City has made it the 
chief winter health resort in the United States. 

Its hotels are the finest and most comfortable on the coast. 

It has a perfect system of sanitation. 

It has an abundant water supply from natural springs on the 
mainland. 

Its death rate is smaller than that of most other cities of the 
country. 



Whence Came Atlantic City ? 49 

It is lighted with gas and electricity, and has a first-class vol- 
unteer fire department, with several engines and hose carriages, 
and two hook-and-ladder trucks. 

It has ample telegraph and telephone facilities. 

Its people are intelligent, liberal, and cosmopolitan, and they 
cordially welcome new residents or visitors. 

Atlantic City is separated from the mainland by an arm of the 
sea, called the Thoroughfare, across which there are three railroad 
bridges and one turnpike bridge. A hard, smooth strand stretches 
from Absecon Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, and at low tide it 
affords a splendid drive ten miles in length. 

A passenger railway traverses Atlantic Avenue from the Inlet 
House to the Excursion House, and several lines of omnibuses 
convey passengers to all parts of the city. There are numerous 
livery stables where carriages and other conveyances may be hired. 
Hacks and omnibuses meet all arriving and departing trains. 

To the inquiry, ''^ Whence came Atlantic City?" we reply: It 
is a refuge thrown up by the continent-building sea. Fashion took 
a caprice and shook it out of a fold of her flounce. A railroad laid 
a wager to find the shortest distance from Penn's treaty elm to the 
Atlantic Ocean ; it dashed into the water and a city emerged from 
its train as a consequence of the manoeuvre. That is the origin 
of Atlantic City. From a small colony of summer pleasure seekers 
it has grown to be a famous watering-place and health resort, with 
a still greater future before it. 

Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, sought in vain for the spring whose virtues were credulously 
believed to restore the vigor/ of youth to the aged. Searching for 
this fountain of youth, he landed on the coast of Florida in the year 
1512, and in that country there are springs almost innumerable, 
each of which to-day lays claim to the high antiquity of being the 
identical spring in which the great Spaniard performed his daily 
ablutions. History informs us, however, that nowhere could he 
find this mythical fountain of youth : but who will deny that if he 
had extended his search northward, and landed upon this island, 
he would have found here a well-nigh perfect realization of his 
hopes ? 

Atlantic City truly is a place of rest, and for those in quest of 
health, an equable climate in winter, and refreshing breezes in 
summer ; for those who would enjoy the invigorating sea air and be 
charmed with the music of the surf; for those who would delight 
in the pleasures of yachting or fishing ; for those who would have 
long life, good living, good society, and be inspired by the gran- 
deur of old ocean ; for those who, like Ponce de Leon, would dis- 
cover the place which imparts youth to the aged, health to the sick, 
and hope to the despondent, there is no more highly favored spot 
anywhere in the land than this beautiful City by the Sea. 



V/inter and ^pniig ^easoiis. 



How sweet the memory of the sea, 
Pictured in beauty, comes to me, 

The peopled strand, the waves that rise 
To where the sunbeams sweetly play — 

The storm-cloud gathering in the skies, 
Crowned with wild glory, and away, 
Rocked on the bosom of the sea, 
A light craft speeding joyously. 

To me its music sweetness seems, 
Like music of entrancing dreams, 

Its power, mysterious and grand, 
Steals over my spirit as a spell ; 

I wander on the drifted sand. 
And hear the songs the billows tell; 
I read a well-taught lesson there 
Of life and light divinely fair. 



^ ANY of the more recent patrons 
of Atlantic City do not know 
that although the history of 
the place as a pleasure resort 
dates from the time of its 
founding in 1854, it was not 
until more than twenty years 
later that it became widely 
known as a winter health 
resort or sanitarium. To-day 
there is no northern winter re- 
sort more popular, none more 
largely patronized, and none more 
urgently recommended by physi- 
cians generally than Atlantic City. 
The physicians of Philadelphia 
were the first to discover the won- 
---.,•5^, - X - .^ derful curative effects of the sa- 

^ ~""^ '"" line air of Atlantic City, and to them, more 

than to any other class of men, is due the credit of making the city 
what it is — a famous sanitarium. Overtaxed brains are ordered 
hither by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the man who has the honor of hav- 
50 




Winter and Spring Seasons. 



51 



ing discovered the "rest cure." He and his learned congeners 
have found that many chronic diseases result from nervous exhaust- 
ion. The sufferer from incipient paralysis or brain-softening is or- 
dered to Atlantic City for six months, and in many instances returns 
to his home cured. It was N. P. Willis who first said that " con- 




sumption is curable if the patient can stop consuming." The 
once dreaded disease to which every New England woman resigned 
herself, fifty years ago, if her lungs began to trouble her, is as cur- 
able now as the measles, if taken in time. 

In old times the seashore was considered a desolate place in 
winter. Such a bleak idea as to be there in the snow months, and 



5 2 Hand- Bo ok of Atlantic City. 

amid storms of ice and sleet, would have chilled the marrow of an 
invalid. And yet we find this place a very sanitarium for the sick 
during the winter. Victims of sore throats and of lung diseases have 
found the bracing air of Atlantic City better than all the doctor- 
stuff they could swallow at home. Many of the wealthy, who other- 
wise would have gone to Europe, have spared themselves the annoy- 
ances of ocean travel by settling down here for a few months. 
Many who used to go to Old Point Comfort in winter now find At- 
lantic City all they desire. 

The favorable comment of physicians and scientists has estab- 
lished for Atlantic City a reputation as a winter health resort far 
beyond that of older, but less favored localities. The winter busi- 
ness of the hotels had its inception in 1876, when the late F. W. 
Hemsley, of Brighton Cottage, decided to provide a house thoroughly 
adapted for the accommodation of winter and spring as well as sum- 
mer visitors, and though at the time this was thought to be a rather 
hazardous experiment, the result has been eminently successful. 
Visitors from all parts of the country, many of whom have hereto- 
fore sought health and relaxation in the more distant Southern re- 
sorts, have found in the genial atmosphere of Atlantic City the 
needed rest and restoration ; while its superior advantages in point 
of accessibility have made it the most popular place of resort on the 
continent. Hundreds of those who have been benefited by winter 
and spring visits bear willing testimony to the tonic effects of its 
bracing atmosphere. The climate is equable and the atmosphere 
free from the humidity which prevails at other points on the coast. 
Indeed, in this latter respect Atlantic City stands without a rival. 
The popularity of Atlantic City as a sanitarium is now so general 
and its reputation so well established that many hotels and cottages 
have been erected or enlarged to accommodate the ever-increasing 
influx of winter and spring visitors. 

Of the many thousands who visit Atlantic City in the interval 
between the first of January and the first of June, it is not to be 
supposed that all are in search of health. As has been already 
hinted, a three-fold object is associated with life at this resort at 
that season. Invalids, especially those troubled with bronchial 
affections or convalescing from malarial attacks, following the 
advice of their physicians, come here to regain their wonted health 
and strength ; others whose daily life of care and toil has brought 
on nervous exhaustion seek rest and recuperation where it is gener- 
ally to be found; and others still, following the bent of fashion, 
are to be found among the throng of pleasure-seekers who hie 
themselves hither during the Lenten season. 

In winter, when the majority of the guests are invalids, any but the 
mildest forms of dissipation are, of course, out of the question ; but 
daring Lent, when the more extravagant gayeties of the rest of the 
world are temporarily suspended, Atlantic City becomes the scene 



Winter and Spring Seasons. 



53 



of genuine fun and 
frolic. During 
the past two or 
three seasons it 
has been the gen- 
erally acknowl- 
edged correct 
thing among the 
most exclusively 
fashionablecircles 
of New York and 
Philadelphia to 
form Lenten par- 
ties for Atlantic 
City. Upon the 
advent of Lent 
some good-na- 
tured married 
lady of unim- 
peachable social 
standing organ- 
izes a party of 
from a dozen to 
twenty young 
people, and offers 
to chaperon them 
to Atlantic City. 
They go for a 
week or ten days, 
often staying 
longer, and. while 
they are here the 
heretofore quiet 
hotels ring with 
the sounds of mu- 
sic, dancing and 
merry laughter. 
The more sober- 
minded invalids 
gaze with a mild 
surprise not un- 
mixed with pi ens- 
ure at these jolly 
parties, and by 
force of example 
become more en- 
ergetic and in- 
clined to forget 
their ailments. 




54 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



In considering Atlantic City as a winter and spring resort, it is 
proper to offer some explanation of the causes which produce such 
beneficial results. To this end we must have recourse to the 
opinions of leading physicians and scientists who have made a care- 
ful study of the matter. " Actual experience," says Dr. Boardman 
Reed in the Medical Times, '' has demonstrated that sea air is 
as valuable in winter as in summer. It also bears out the. statis- 
tics which prove that the climate of Atlantic City is superior 
to that of most seaco?st towns, being drier, more equable, and 
unusually mild, considering the latitude." The same authority 
says : " Another peculiarity of the location of Atlantic City is that 
all the winds from the landward must pass for long distances — 
hundreds of miles in some directions — over a very dry and porous 
sandy soil, upon which snow rarely lies for anytime. These winds, 
including those from the north, northwest, west and southwest, 
are, therefore, to some extent both dried and warmed in their 
passage. Though the coast of Southern New Jersey has a general 
direction from northeast to southwest, the beach at Atlantic City 
trends more to the westward, so that it faces almost directly south- 
ward. Therefore south as well as east winds are sea breezes here, 
and both blow across the Gulf Stream, which exercises considerable 
influence upon the climate of this part of the coast." 

The dryness of the climate of Atlantic City, as compared with 
other seaside resorts, is best shown by statistics of the rainfall, 
which is less here than at any other place on the coast, as appears 
from the records of the Signal Service at Washington. The fol- 
lowing table represents the annual amount of rain at the principal 
cities and stations on the coast for five consecutive years ; also the 
average rainfall at each station since it was established : 















AVERAGE. 


Atlantic City, N. J., . . 
Barnegat, N.J...... 

Cape May, N.J.,. . . 


42.90 


40.60 


44.23 


55-48 


39-55 


40.24 


8 years. 


52.25 


49.38 


47.27 


60.13 


58.85 


50.20 


8 " 


47-99 


42.44 


5092 


60.54 


40.41 


46.70 


10 " 


Charleston, S. C, . . . 


68.62 


6433 


44-47 


48.80 


48.63 


60.91 


ir " 


Jacksonville, Fla., . . . 


52.11 


51.62 


54.99 


66.87 


48.69 


55-74 


10 " 


Newport, R. I., . . . . 


55.84 


52.20 


40-75 


61.45 


44.52 


59-98 


6 " 


New Orleans, La., . . . 


73.31 


58.29 


60.84 


67-33 


58.22 


60.63 


II " 


New York City, .... 


42.68 


43.68 


3324 


49-50 


35.60 


42.67 


II " 


Norfolk, Va., 


66.28 


44.44 


34.54 


54-48 


46.49 


51.43 


II " 


Portland, Me., 


45.61 


41.10 


38.24 


45.02 


42.99 


39.33 


10 " 


Sandy Hook, N. J., . . 


54.86 


60.37 


46.75 


53-14 


46.20 


52.05 


8 " 


Wilmington, N.C., . . . 


84.12 


50.90 


50.13 


53-35 


46.56 


57.28 


II " 



This table of rainfall shows that Portland, Me., alone of all the 
cities and stations mentioned, had during that period a less rainfall 
than Atlantic City. This is an extraordinary fact. Atlantic City 
has less rainfall than any other resort on the coast, so far as the 
official records show, and has thus a strong basis for its claim to 
exceptional dryness. 

Signal Observer G. A. Loveland, who has charge of the United 
States Signal Station at Atlantic City, has kindly furnished the 



Winter and Spring Seasons. 



55 



compiler of this Hand-Book with the following statement of the 
temperature in this city during each of the twelve months of the 
following four years : 





1884. 


1885. 


1 1886. 

1 ' 


1887. 






_, V 


6 


1; 


_ w 


u 


oT 


- u 


u 


4) 








3 
^2 


£5 


if 


3 


I3 


e 2 


3 


15 
E: 2 


E 3 


3 


e 5 


IS 

E 2 




^^ 


i^^ 


:s^ 


>x 


?5a 


;ss. 


^a 


rt a 


.£ a 


s 0. 


■f1^ 


:E?i 




E 


s^ 


s^, 


e 


Sfe 


^^ 


E 


-y 


S.H 


■^s 


SB 


^^ 




H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


H 


January, . . 


31.2 


46.0 


5-2 


292 


50.0 


4.0 


32.3 


53-0 


7-5 


31-4 


S2.8 


7.0 


February, . 


35-1 


64.0 


1-7 


n 


6 


57-0 


11. 


; 25.7 


48.1 


5-0 


36.6 


S7-8 


16.7 


March, . . 


35-0 


62.0 


II. 


3« 


6 


60.2 


8.0 


, 3'-4 


55-3 


8.5 


38.1 


67.S 


18.4 


April, . . . 


45-5 


63.0 


27.0 


47 





67.0 


29-5 


46.6 


75-2 


28.9 


48.0 


83.4 


28.4 


May, .... 


5b. 7 


79.0 


40.0 


5« 


7 


78.1 


41.0 


57-« 


75.0 


35-4 


56.0 


74-9 


46. s 


June, . . . 


67.2 


87.0 


52.0 


66 


4 


87.2 


49.0 


66.7 


87.3 


52.0 


65.7 


82.0 


53 7 


July, . . . 


73 -o 


94.0 


57-0 


70 


6 


89.9 


56.9 


73 4 


90.9 


56.8 


72.1 


86.1 


58.3 


August, . . 


70-5 


91.0 


55-0 


71 


5 


88.6 


61. 1 


73-1 


«9.3 


48.8 


71-4 


86.S 


55-3 


September, . 


65.1 


80.0 


45-0 


69 


7 


86.2 


49-7 


64.7 


80.6 


44.0 


68.S 


78.4 


49.8 


October, . . 


55 .t) 


75-0 


39-8 


5a 


5 


83.0 


32.4 


.55.« 


73.9 


.33.6 


58.1 


73-9 


36.2 


November, . 


45-9 


63.0 


18.7 


45 


7 


69.9 


20.0 


46.4 


64.7 


26.8 


467 


65.0 


24.4 


December, . 


37-2 


57-b 


II. 


37-5 


61.0 


2.1 


36.9 


53-3 


12.5 


36.7 


56.0 


13-7 



The same authority also furnishes a comparative summary of the 
mean temperature at some of the principal cities of the country 
during the years 1886 and 1887. These figures are taken from the 
official reports to the Department at Washington : 





1886. 


1887. 




rt 


i 

rt 


a, 
< 


58.7 


1 
664 


"3 
70.6 


3 

3 
< 

715 


J3 

rt 

38.1 


ft 

<; 
48.0 


rt 
56.0 


i 

3 

65.7 


72.2 


< 


Atlantic City, 


37-6 


3B.6 


47.0 


71-4 


Boston, Mass., 






31.0 


33-5 


42.7 


53-8 


66.0 


68.0 


68.3 


33.7 


47.7 56.2 


63.1 


70.8 


67.7 


Chicago, 111., . . . 






27.7 


34.2 


44. s 


SO. 7 


bS.o 


69.2 


68.8 


1 36.1 


49.1 


57-0 


66.0 


71.4 


72.4 


Jacksonville, Fla., . 
New York 






62.1 


66.8 


68.7 


76.S 


76.9 


82.9 




59.9 


66.S 


75.8 


807 


80.9 


80.8 






35-1 


37-5 


47.6 


58.8 


68.7 


70.1 


7'-5 


.36.9 


50.3 


58.5 


65.6 


72.9 


71.0 


Philadelphia, Pa., . 






40-3 


41.5 


48.7 


61.3 


70.5 


71.8 


. . 


40.0 


53.4 60.9 


68.6 


74-6 


73.0 


Washington City, .... 


40.9 


42.2 


50-9 


64.4 


72.5 


74.2 


74.2 


i42.o 

1 


55-5 62.1 


69.9 


73-9 


73.1 



A well-known physician of Baltimore, Dr. J. T, King, says: 
"The geological peculiarity of the island is one of the agents that 
contribute to the remarkable healthfulness of Atlantic City at all 
seasons of the year. There is no indigenous or spontaneous vege- 
tation upon the island. The only growth to be seen is the arbo- 
real embellishments of the avenues and lawns — svlvan contributions 



S6 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



from the forests of the mainland. No stagnant pools or sloughs 
mar or disfigure the facial lineaments of the island, and there is no 
malarial or miasmatic emanation or effluvium to offend the senses 
or to affect its perfect hygiene." 




jlealth, I^est and Pleasure. 




In what Arcadian, what Utopian ground, 
Are warmer hearts or manlier feelings found, 
More hospitable welcome, or more zeal 
To make the curious, tarrying stranger feel 
That, next to home, here best may he abide, 
To rest and cheer him by the flowing tide ? 

HOMAS HOOD, in his Literary Recollec- 
tions, says: -'Next to being a citizen of 
the world, it must be the best thing 
to be born a citizen of the world's 
greatest city;" and with reasonable assur- 
ance we may add : Next to being an inhabi- 
tant of Atlantic City, it must be one's highest privilege to 
find rest, health and pleasure U. the City by the Sea. 
Several elements combine to produce the resting and tonic 
effect of the sea air, the first of which is the presence of a 
large amount of ozone — the stimulating, vitilizing principle of the 
atmosphere. Ozone has a tonic, healing and purifying power, 
that increases as the air is taken into the lungs. It strengthens the 
respiratory organs, and in stimulating them helps the whole system. 
It follows naturally that the blood is cleansed and revivified, tone 
is given to the stomach, the liver is excited to healthful action, and 
the whole body feels the benefit. Perfect health is the inevitable 
result, if there be enough of the constitution left to build upon ; 
and even confirmed invalids are often materially benefited by sea- 
side life, and existences that would be utterly miserable are by 
sojourns here made not only tolerable, but often pleasant and 
happy. Another reason is that the atmosphere, being denser at 
the sea-level than at more elevated points, contains, in a given 
space, a larger amount of oxygen ; while still another is that, as a 
larger portion of the breeze comes from the sea, the air contains 
but a small amount of the deleterious products of -decaying vegeta- 
ble and animal matter. 

5 S7 



58 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City, 



'III 



i 4 



ii^i. 



The saline particles held in sus- 
pension in the atmosphere, the 
'' dust of the ocean," enter the sys- 
tem through the lungs, and aid in 
the tonic effect experienced at the 
seashore. But whatever may be 
the cause, the effect is undoubted. 
Few who visit Atlantic City fail to- 
experience a marked improvement 
in appetite, while to many there 
comes such a feeling of drowsiness 
that the most exciting story will 
fail to keep them awake between 
the hours of three and six in the 
afternoon. This is a sure sign that 
the nerves are being well rested and 
fed. It is a great thing to get an 
abundant supply of nerve food with- 
out the use of medicines, the falsely 
stimulating effect of which must be 
followed by a corresponding ex- 
haustion. 

Atlantic City, as is well known, 
is wholly surrounded by unmixed 
salt water, besides having six miles 
of salt meadows behind it, and rests 
upon a bed of dry sand — therein 
fulfilling the two conditions laid 
down by Professor Loomis as es- 
sential to immunity from malaria. 
No considerable fresh water stream 
empties within many miles of it. 
" My personal experience of the 
place, dating back eighteen years," 
says Dr. Boardman Reed, "affords 
strong evidence against the proba- 
bility of malaria originating here. 
In my practice among invalid visi- 
tors, I see a great deal of malaria. 
It is one of the diseases for which 
visitors come here, particularly in 
winter ; and when they remain long 
enough, they do not often come in 
vain." 

It is believed by many scientists 
and students of hygiene that the 
air at Atlantic City is '* hostile to 



Health, Rest and Pleasure. 5c^ 

physical debility," and that to those who suffer from our great 
American complaint, nervous prostration, whether brought on by 
overwork or by our changeful climate, it promises not only re- 
cuperation, but a permanent re-establishment of health. 

It is with climates as with medicines — trustworthy evidence as 
to what they have accomplished is the most valuable. With regard 
to nervous, rheumatic, gouty, dyspeptic, and various other chronic 
ailments which are usually found to be benefited here in the 
summer, equal benefit may be expected in the winter. Convales- 




COTTAGE OF WILLIAM C. HOUSTON, NORTH CAROLINA AVENUE. 

cents from acute diseases or from surgical operations nearly 
always improve remarkably upon being removed to Atlantic City 
from the large cities. 

''As to diseases of the respiratory organs," says Dr. Reed, '' I 
have had personal knowledge of many patients suffering from vari- 
ous forms of such affections who have made trials of this climate in 
winter. The cases have, as a rule, improved, some of them very 
decidedly, though there have been exceptions. The consumptives 
who were in the incipient stage, and those even in the advanced 



6o Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 

stages where the destructive process has been advancing slowly, 
have often experienced very marked improvement. In a considera- 
ble proportion — about one-fourth — of the cases of the latter 
class, the disease has been apparently arrested, and some of them 
seem to be cured." 

It is a significant fact that pneumonia and bronchitis are of in- 
frequent origin here^ and when they do occur the patients almost 
invariably recover. Upon this point Dr. Reed's experience as a 
resident physician enables him to speak very positively. He has 
not 'known an uncomplicated attack of either disease to prove fatal. 

To another highly respected physician, Dr. James Darrach, of 
Germantown, belongs the honor of having relieved many patients 
suffering from hay fever and autumnal catarrh by sending them to 
Atlantic City. The late Rev. H. W. Beecher and Dr. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes had a witty correspondence on the subject of hay 
fever a few years since, in which the latter declared that there was 
no cure for the disease "but six feet of gravel." Atlantic City, 
however, has answered back that it may be alleviated. 

Nature has provided Atlantic City with the health-giving sea; 
with a balmy and delightful climate ; with a sandy soil, which, 
after a light snow or heavy rain, dries with marvelous quickness. 
Come here, ye who seek health, rest or pleasure ; come and fill 
your lungs with the ozone of the sea ; come and promenade on 
the three-mile boardwalk planted within reach of the spray ; come 
and sit in a rocking-chair and take a sun-bask in the open air or 
one of the several Ocean Parlors ; come before it gets too warm ; 
come while ye may ; come now, when the moon is full or before 
it is full ; come and commune with nature and take no heed of a 
chronic fault-finder who is here, enjoying to the full all the benefits 
and advantages of Atlantic City and the hospitalities of its people, 
and who still carps and grumbles because the town lacks a few 
pretty curves and graces. 



BETWEEN THE SEASONS. 

The month of May, by many considered the loveliest of all the 
year, divides the spring and the summer seasons at Atlantic City, 
if there be any division. The spring guests, however, often linger 
through May, and it is sometimes difficult to tell where the spring 
season ends and the summer season begins. About the last of May 
the large summer hotels and boarding-houses begin to prepare for 
the coming of the summer guests. When the month of roses 
comes the register of the summer hotel lies open upon the spacious 
desk ; the clerk is bland and gracious — his opportunity to be 
imperiously dignified and lofty not having arrived ; servants are 
busy with mop and bucket, pvitting things in order ; scores of 
chairs are ranged to the right, left and front of you with not a 



Health, Rest and Pleasure. 



6i 



vestige of a struggle to get '* position ;" smiling Bonifaces greet 
the advent of each guest with an earnest welcome and confiden- 
tially advise him to select his room early, lest disap])ointment 
should follow ; the horse-cars plod to and from the Inlet without 
grave friction on the bell-punch ; and even the policeman looks 
gracious as he dreams of the ''tips" to flow in his lap when the 
tide of humanity turns seaward. In a few weeks all this will be 
transformed into bustle and animation ; the diamond of the ten- 
dollar-a-week clerk will sparkle as never before ; the houses will 
be full and some of the guests fuller, and the summer season will be 
at its height. 




CL-S^ ■>'' 



^ummep Days by the gea. 



O Summer day beside the joyous sea ! 
O Summer day so wonderful and white, 
So full of gladness and so full of pain ! 
Forever and forever shalt thou be 
To some the gravestone of a dead delight, 
To some the landmark of a new domain. 

— Longfellow. 



f?K^^ 



:>: 




. la. ^':^ >- 






CARCELY has passed the brief period 
of transition from the austere glory 
of winter to the slow cremation of 
the dog days, ere one's thoughts 
revert, with fond remembrance, to 
the delightful scenes, the cool and 
invigorating breezes, and the joy- 
ous pastimes of Atlantic City, where 
the summer's day of the poet is 
something more than a mere crea- 
tion of the fancy. 
The oft-quoted lines of George Herbert, the sweet singer of 
Cherbury — 

*' Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright. 
The bridal of the earth and sky," — 

are almost meaningless to those who know summer only from the 
high temperatures, the glaring sun, and the hot, parching winds 
that are its distinguishing characteristics in no inconsiderable por- 
tion of the United States. 

The ideal summer presupposes climatic conditions that make 
physical life — from the highest to the lowest — a perpetual delight 
and rejoicing; and, if there is any place more favored than another 
in that regard, it must surely be a matter of concern to the toiling 
millions to know where it may be found. 

But, apart from the mere pursuit of pleasure, the mere s^king 

after enjoyment, and that love of change for its own sake that is 

inherent in every son of Adam, there is, happily, in this busy, 

restless age, a just recognition of the importance of relaxing the 

62 



Summer Days by the Sea. 6 



extreme tension of business and endeavoring to repair the terrible 
waste of vital force. We are, however, with our pleasures, very 
much what we are in our business, except that, while we may not 
always make a pleasure of business, we certainly make a business of 
our pleasure, seeking to obtain, with the least outlay, the largest 
possible results. 

The accessibility of a summer resort is, therefore, with not a few, 
a matter of importance, second only to the paramount considera- 
tion of health and pleasure; and herein lies the secret of Atlantic 
City's wonderful growth and popularity. 

The development of this place as a winter resort has not been 
more marked than has been its progress as a place of permanent 
abode for those who cater to the necessities of the tens of thou- 
sands who migrate hither in summer time. Starting in 1854, the 
growth of the city for some years was slow and it was known only 
as a place for summer recreation, lasting from the first of July 
until the first of September. From September to June the number 
of inhabitants was considerably less than one thousand. Now the 
permanent all-the-year-round population is about ten thousand, 
while the summer inhabitants often exceed seventy-five thousand. 

Little did the few residents of 1854 dream that this lonely 
island, so maccessible, so remote, would become in a compara- 
tively brief period the site of a beautiful city by the sea, with 
broad avenues lined with handsome cottages, thronged with splen- 
did equipages and a moving multitude representing the culture, 
intelligence, and wealth of a metropolitan people — the permanent 
home of a large and growing population, and the favorite pleasure- 
resort of many thousands. The building of the Camden and 
Atlantic Railroad from Philadelphia to the island has made this 
once isolated spot blossom as the rose, and in its popularity, its 
accommodations, its many excellencies and varied attractions, it is 
ahead of the oldest places of the kind in America. 

The first-class hotels and numerous boarding-houses are over- 
taxed in summer time to accommodate the throng of visitors who 
come from every direction, north, east, south, and west. During 
the past year cottages have sprung up with a rapidity and in 
numbers without a parallel in the history of Atlantic City, or of 
any other resort in the world. These cottages find occupants in 
the spring, most of whom remain until October. 

The solid character of its patrons from the better elements of 
society, the quiet, homelike aspect of the place, the natural 
scenery and charms peculiar to itself, conspire to make Atlantic 
City the very ideal of a summer resort. Art and design have 
added to its attractions, beautifying it with broad avenues, with 
walks bordered with trees, and with gardens whose fragrance unites 
with the cool breeze of the ocean to delight and refresh those who 
seek rest and recreation at the seashore. 



Summer Days by the Sea. 



65 



For sailing under the most favorable conditions, the Inlet affords 
ample opportunity, and good boats ably manned by veteran seamen 
are always to be had at a fair price. The Inlet is the favorite resort 
of the lovers of those twin sports, yachting and fishing. A large 
fleet of handsome yachts is always riding at anchor in waiting for 




BOARDWALK AND OCEAN PIER. 



parties desirous of a sail over the briny waters, or ot indulging in- 
that exciting sport, deep-sea fishing. The water is fairly alive with 
game fish, such as sea bass, flounders, weak fish, king fish, porgies, 
croakers, snapping mackerel, blue fish, and kindred varieties. The 
most delicious oysters are to be had here, fresh from their native 
beds, and with an appetizing flavor unknown to one who has never 



66 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 

eaten them before the moss of their shells is dry. The Thoroughfare, 
which is as smooth as a mountain lake, is another favorite resort, 
especially for the ladies. It abounds in crabs, which are caught in 
great numbers. Those who prefer steam to sails as a motor can be 
accommodated also, and the few whose stomachs dread the heaving 
billows may eschew both and idly sit and watch the fleet of gayly 
decked boats as they dance in the dim distance with their precious 
freight, their blood meanwhile tingling with the ozone blown from 
the sea, or the commoner kind which some endeavor to suck through 
a straw. 

In addition to the customary weekly hops at the principal hotels, 
Atlantic City is visited during the summer season by some of the 
best musical and dramatic talent, and concerts and entertainments 
are given at various places of amusement. These, in connection 
with the varied and ever-recurring pleasures natural to the resort, 
present a constant round of enjoyment. A feature of Atlantic City 
is the open-air concert gardens. At first thought one would perhaps 
not consider these places among the special attractions, but the es- 
timation in which they are held elsewhere must not be the stand- 
ard of judgment here. They are conducted with order and deco- 
rum. Many people who never venture into them at home visit 
them here in the cool of the evening, and enjoy the excellent music 
which is provided. Solid business men of irreproachable character, 
distinguished people from all parts of the country, as well as church- 
going people, are frequently seen in these places. 

Summer days by the sea would be incomplete without a visit to each 
of the three great piers, whose surface reaches far out over the ocean, 
and upon which one may walk and watch the waves as they roll in, 
an d perchance '■ ' lay hold upon the mane of the sea. ' ' As the Board- 
walk is the promenade, the centre of life and interest, over which 
everybody strolls in search of exercise or amusement, so are the 
piers places of interest which every one should visit, if only for a 
few breaths of the very purest and freshest of ocean air 

The largest of these three structures is the new Iron Pier, which 
extends a thousand feet into the ocean from the foot of Massachu- 
setts Avenue. The width of this pier is thirty feet, widening at the 
centre pavilion to one hundred feet, and at the outer pavilion to one 
hundred and forty feet. The outer pavilion is sufficiently spacious 
to hold an audience of two thousand people. The cost of the en- 
tire structure was sixty-two thousand dollars. 

Applegate's Pier, at the foot of Tennessee Avenue, is nearly seven 
hundred feet in length, and was finished in the spring of 1884 at a 
•cost of over twenty-five thousand dollars. Before it was finished it 
stood the test of the severe storm of January#8th and 9th, 1884, and 
•since then it has baffled old Boreas and Neptune on more than one 
occasion. Though built upon the sand, it stills stands as solid as a 
rock. Applegate's Double-Deck Pier is a great resort for Board- 



Sufnmer Days by the Sea. 



67 



walk promenaders in summer-time. Thousands resort to it to en- 
joy the delightful ocean breezes and find relief from the heat, which 
sometimes becomes uncomfortable in the built-up portion of the 
city. Above the upper deck and near the centre of the pier the 
owner has erected what he calls the Lovers' Pavilion, where spoony 
couples are wont to resort to escape the gaze of the madding crowd. 
It has been estimated that as many as one hundred wedding engage- 
ments are consummated in this pavilion every summer season. 
During July and August first-class performances are given upon 
this pier every evening. 




THE NEW IRON PIER. 



The Howard Ocean Pier, at the foot of Kentucky Avenue, is the 
oldest of the three piers. It is six hundred feet long and has an 
extensive pavilion at the outer end, where select hops and excellent 
dramatic or operatic entertainments are held. 

The pavilions of these piers afford an unobstructed view of the 
entire beach, the bathers, and the limitless expanse of water 
stretching away to the ocean's horizon. Beneath us, deep down 
in the clear waters, the finny inhabitants are as busy in their ele- 
ment as we are in ours, although they are probably not looking for 
their lost nervous energy. 

Life at Atlantic City during the summer is in one aspect without 



6S Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

restraint. Coming from every part of the land and from every 
walk in life, the crowd must necessarily be a motley one, but there 
is none of that "respect of persons" which is sometimes seen in 
the churches. The man with a "gold ring, in goodly apparel," 
is not considered one whit better than the "poor man in vile rai- 
ment;" indeed, appearances are so deceptive that it would never 
be safe to judge of the size of a man's bank account by the clothes 
he has on — especially if it be a bathing suit. Men whose talents 
have made them famous throughout the land — ^judges, lawyers and 
ministers — arrayed in a suit of blue and white, mingle daily with 
the other bathers, ignorant of who they are and regardless of their 
social standing. It is no uncommon sight to see men eminent in 
their callings busily engaged in scooping up bucketfuls of sand for 
children whom they chance to meet upon the beach, or aiding 
them in their search for shells after a receding tide. Sedate bach- 
elors and prudish old maids not infrequently take part in such 
diversions as these, and, viewing the scenes from the calm of a 
pavilion, one cannot help thinking that the intellects and the 
characters thus unbent, and finding a share in the enjoyments of 
childhood, appear to greater advantage by the relaxation. Year 
after year, summer after summer, this strange commingling of the 
young and the old, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, 
the grave and the gay, goes on in Atlantic City ; and so until the 
end of time, generation after generation, the charmed voice of the 
sea will draw men to its sands and to its surf. From the plains of 
the South, from the wide expanse of the West, and from the bleak, 
gray rim of the North, men, women, and children will come and 
go, girdling our coast with joy and sorrow through the twelve 
months — months which make possible the winter's comfort and the 
summer's pleasure. 




THE AUTUMN BREAK-UP — THEY MAY 
NEVER MEET AGAIN. 



Boardwall^ and ^trand. 



Love the sea ? I dote upon it — from the beach. 

— Douglas Jerrold. 




URING the sum- 
mer, life at At- 
lantic City is 
buoyant, 
gay and 
attractive, 
and draws 
many thou- 
sands to en- 
joy the hos- 
pitality of 
its people. 
The hotels are often taxed to their utmost to accommodate the 
number of arrivals. As many as thirty thousand people have been 
known to arrive here in a single day, and the aggregate number 
of guests at one time has exceeded seventy- five thousand. The sum- 
mer " rush and crush" reaches its height about the first of August, 
when the city itself puts on its gayest attire. Then it is that hops 
are held almost nightly at the principal hotels, and the Boardwalk 
is transformed into a mass of surging humanity — so thick, indeed, 
that the crowd surges over on the sides, and the strand, either 
from choice or necessity, becomes an equally popular promenade. 
The current moves constantly on in both directions, the rule of the 
road — keep to the right — being strictly adhered to. When one is 
tired or wants to study humanity, there is no place equal to the 
Boardwalk. As a study of some of the most unique phases of 
human character, a stroll along this crowded thoroughfare is worth 
a year of ordinary life. Its infinite variety preserves it from 
monotony, and never does it present the same aspect two days in 
succession. 

69 



70 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



Seated in one of the many cozy pavilions which line the Board- 
walk, one may find rest and pleasure on a summer evening gazing 
upon the broad ocean, upon which the dark shadows of night are 
beginning to fall. The stars twinkle in the sky above, the waves 
chant a weird song as they break upon the strand, the moon rises in 
its glory, lighting up the dark waters, and the ear -is lulled with the 
gentle murmur of the surf. It is an opportunity for thoughtful 
meditation or melancholy pleasure, according to the mood of the 
individual. 

The life, the light, and the color that one sees on this promenade 
during the early hours of a summer evening are indescribable. It 




LIGHTHOUSE AND LIFE SAVING STATION. 

is an endless dress parade, a grand review in which everybody is 
one of the reviewers as well as one of the reviewed, a kirmess, a 
garden party, a lawn tennis tournament, and a huge picnic all 
rolled into one, for a single ticket of admission which costs noth- 
ing. The animation, the overflowing good-nature, the laughter, 
and contagious hilarity of this restless throng are irresistible. The 
lights from the scores of bazaars, the music floating in from the 
piers, the buoyant merriment of countless children, the soft, melt- 
ing colors of the summer dresses of the women, the grace and 
freshened loveliness of the women themselves, the fakir faking his 
fake, the dizzy whirl of the merry-go-round, and the thousand and 
one little scraps of life and tone that line the thoroughfare blend in 



Boardwalk and Strand. 71 

a picture which is warranted to banquet the eye and rest the mind 
of any man who has not utterly lost the capacity for being enter- 
tained, all to the soothing accompaniment of the caressing airs and 
the thunderous monotone of the blue, unresting sea. 

At the lower end of the city there are two hotels, which are 
specially designed for excursionists — that is, persons who come 
down to spend a day at the seashore. This class aggregates many 
thousands. The houses are provided with well-appointed restau- 
rants, pleasant parlors, broad piazzas, and spacious ball-rooms. 
Starting from the vicinity of the Excursion House, where congre- 
gate the photographers, the itinerant vendors of views, curiosities, 
edibles and trinkets, the weighing-machine men, and the test-your- 
lungs men — passing these and many other things to amuse, and 
following the Boardwalk in the direction of the Inlet, the pedes- 
trian comes to the lighthouse, of which some data is given in 
another chapter of this book. It is situated at the northeastern 
end of the island, near the entrance to Absecon Inlet. 

From the balcony of the lighthouse a grand panorama of sea and 
land is presented. We behold there what the world looks like to 
a sea-gull ; and a grand waste of waters it seems, indeed. Look- 
ing north and west, across the extended miles of salt meadows, with 
their winding thoroughfares and bays, one sees the lines of pretty 
buildings and fertile farms of the mainland. Stretching to the 
southwest is the beautiful city, with its grand hotels, its extensive 
boarding-houses, its hundreds of private cottages embowered in 
shrubbery, and the long line of shade-trees skirting the side- 
walks; while beyond, to the east and south, the ocean stretches 
into the distant horizon. 

Many delightful, dreamy hours may be spent upon the strand 
during the day when the weather is pleasant. The long stretch of 
sandy beach and the roar of the surf may be uninteresting to some 
upon a gloomy day, but when the sun is shining all dreariness dis- 
appears, the ocean sparkles like a huge diamond, and groups of 
people wander along the strand or scoop out convenient hollows, 
in which they lie for hours, enjoying the warm sun-bath and in- 
haling ozone at every breath. Bevies of girls dressed in dainty 
costumes are scattered about on the sand, and ripples of laughter 
come to one's ears from every side. Far out upon the horizon a 
faint trace of smoke may be seen ascending from a passing steamer, 
while above the horizon and sometimes just beyond the surf the 
white wings of swift-sailing yachts or other craft lend a charm 
and a motion to the scene. Nothing could add to the quiet 
beauty of this scene or heighten the pleasure of those for whom it 
is created. 

From morning until evening the beach is a perfect paradise for 
children. The youngsters take to digging in the sand and pad- 
dling in the water by natural instinct, having unlimited opportu- 



Boardwalk and Strand. 



73 



nities for both. Every day they throw up fortifications, build 
rnounds, and excavate subterranean caverns, and every night the 
tide washes away all their labor and leaves a soft, smooth surface 
for another day's toil. 

The pleasures of the surf bath bring multitudes to Atlantic City 
during the summer months, and bathing here attains a popularity 
unknown to more northern resorts, the near approach of the 
Gulf Stream to this point increasing the temperature of the water 
to a delightful degree, and taking from it the bitter chill from 
which so many would-be bathers shrink. At the fashionable hours 
of bathing, from eleven to one, the beach is crowded with thou- 
sands of merry bathers, whose shouts and laughter mingle with the 
roar of the surf, while the strand and Boardwalk are lined with 
interested spectators and promenaders. The scene at this time is 
as animated as the streets of a continental city on a fete day. On 
a moonlight evening, when the beach is filled with equipages, and 
the Boardwalk thronged with merry promenaders, then, indeed, 
Atlantic City presents a picture of delightful existence, fairer than 
any vision of a midsummer night's dream. 




■t~— f-f 



'n^ii-X^^^ 






Wnnmit-r— isalocj' [1 I i-li.'-,..-.-^-— ^- 



-^!v-,^^,_i>est:; 



]V[ysteries of the ^ea. 



The whole creation is a mystery. 

— Sir Thomas Browne. 




ANY visitors enjoy a 
stroll along the strand 
any hour of the day, 
and the walk 
will gener- 
ally repay 
the collector 
of sea-shells 
and marine 
grasses. A 
variety of 
shells are crumpled beneath the feet at almost every tread, and 
myriad specimens of marine grasses or sea algae are revealed to the 
practiced eye. The latter, when cleaned and placed upon sheets 
of white paper or cardboard, are found to be of exceedingly delicate 
formation and color. They illustrate the beauty and perfection of 
Nature's handiwork. 

Of the many who gather these shells and grasses, however, very 
few realize that the ocean is the abode of millions of varieties of 
strange, living organisms, from the microscopic monad to the un- 
wieldy leviathan, the horrid octopus, or the great whale. Nor do 
they know that the bed of the sea is the counterpart of the dry land. 
In it are high mountains, long valleys, and broad plateaus. Upon many 
of these submarine plateaus the water is but a few feet in depth, 
while in the deep subaqueous valleys a depth of eight miles has been 
fathomed. The bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is a succession of 
mountain ranges, verdant valleys, and sublime precipices, and it is 
susceptible of proof that there are vast submarine prairies, constantly 
decked in gorgeous floral garniture, over which the great leviathan 
and the whale and the lesser fishes disport at will. In some parts 
74 



Mysteries of the Sea. 75 

of these submarine continents crops of golden sheen and fructifer- 
ous vines grow in inconceivable luxuriance, and wave upon the sur- 
face of the sea for hundreds of square miles, looking not unlike one 
boundless prairie. Their diversity in size is as great as in form, some 
species being visible only through the microscope, some a few inches, 
and others a few feet in length, while a single plant of one species 
which floats in the South American seas measures more than one 
hundred feet, and another which floats in the Pacific Ocean reaches 
the length of fifteen hundred feet. They have in no case proper 
roots, but merely processes for their attachment to the surfaces on 
which they are fixed. The gulf-weed floats in long pieces in the 
Atlantic Ocean and all the great seas. It is carried in such quanti- 
ties by the current into the Gulf of Mexico, that it covers the sea 
in tracts many miles in breadth, giving it the appearance of a vast 
meadow. Many fabulous stories were related of this gulf-weed by 
the mariners of the fifteenth century. Ships were said to have been 
stopped in their course, and the crews obliged to cut their way 
through with hatchets. The discoveries of Columbus put an end 
to these exaggerated reports. 

In the sea, also, are great coral mountains, with perpendicular es- 
carpments thousands of miles in length, in which are deep grottoes 
and caverns and lofty arches, with innumerable coral pinnacles and 
domes, more exquisite even than the ornately chiseled facade of a 
cathedral or palace. 

Science shows that millions of tons of chloride of sodium, or 
common salt, is held in solution, and that the sea contains vast 
quantities of magnesia and lime. It is estimated that every year a 
layer of the entire sea, fourteen feet thick, is -taken up into the 
clouds by evaporation. This vapor is fresh, and if all the water 
could be removed in the same way and none of it returned, it is cal- 
culated that there would be left a layer of pure salt two hundred and 
thirty feet thick on the bed of the Atlantic. 

At a depth of about three thousand five hundred feet the temper- 
ature of the sea is uniform, varying but a trifle from the poles to the 
equator. The colder water is below. It is a common impression that 
waves travel ; but this is an error ; the water does not move for- 
ward, though it seems to do so. It stays in the same place, but the 
rising and falling moves on. We measure waves by their height and 
by the distance from crest to crest. In deep water this latter dis- 
tance is about fifteen times the height of the wave. In shallow 
water the proportion is less, and this makes a choppy sea. 

The pressure of the water increases, of course, as we go down. 
At the depth of a mile this pressure is reckoned at more than a ton to 
the square inch, that is, more than a hundred and thirty-three times 
the pressure of the atmosphere. 

To get correct sounding in deep water is difficult. A shot weigh- 
ing thirty pounds carries down the line. Through this sinker a hole ' 



Mysteries of the Sea. 77 

is bored, and through the whole is passed a rod of iron which moves 
easily back and forth. In the end of the bar a cup is dug out, and 
the inside is coated with lard. The bar is made fast to the line and 
a sling holds the shot on. When the bar, which extends below the 
shot, touches the bottom, the sling unhooks and the shot slides off. 
The cup in the end of the bar holds, some of the sand, or whatever 
may be on the bottom, and a cover shuts over the cup to keep the 
water from washing the sand out. In this way we learn the char- 
acter of the deep-sea bottom. 

The depth of the sea presents some interesting considerations. 
If the Atlantic were lowered six thousand five hundred and sixty- 
four feet, it would be reduced to half its present width. If it were 
lowered a little more than three miles, there would be dry land all 
the way between Newfoundland and Ireland. If the Mediterranean 
were lowered six hundred and sixty feet, Africa would be joined to 
Italy, and three separate seas would remain. 

In an interesting chapter upon the sea. Dr. J. T. King, of Balti- 
more, says : 

The sea is divided into three liquid strata, or layers of water, 
of different densities and properties. In the lowest stratum, or 
deepest part of the sea, we find the home of the Crustacea — such as 
crabs, lobsters, and other like species ; at a depth of five or six 
hundred feet we enter the domain of the invertebrate and verte- 
brate fishes and the various mollusks ; in the third and superficial 
stratum we find minute animalculae, mostly observable by the 
microscope. 

The innumerable currents and tides, and the continual agitation 
from winds that blow upon its surface, and the unceasing evapora- 
tion and uninterrupted contribution of rain from the clouds — all 
these chemical and physical phenomena, with a thousand others, 
render the sea a fit and beautiful realm for its inhabitants. 

The color of the sea is not only a form of beauty, conveying 
pleasure to the mind, but it is for an all-wise purpose. It is an indis- 
putable fact, that the color of the water of the sea is imparted to 
the fish which inhabit the particular locality, just as the plumage of 
birds corresponds to the foliage of the forests they inhabit. Why 
is this? The similtude in color is a protection to them. Their 
presence is not as readily betrayed to their enemies, as if they were 
of different color. Deep-swimming fishes are invariably of bluish 
tint ; for example, the well-known blue-fish. The parrot-fish is of 
a scarlet color as vivid as that of the birds in the forests of the 
neighboring lands. The mullet is brilliant brown and gold, and 
the cod is invariably clad in Quaker gray. 

Not only does the sea furnish a vast home to the myriads of 
animals that live in its waters, but it is the home of many of the 
feathered creatures, especially of that mysterious little bird known 
as *' Mother Carey's Chicken." This bird is reared and makes its 



78 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City, 



home upon the sea. It flits about incessantly by day, and at night 
it roosts upon the raging billows, tucking its head under its wing 
and going to sleep amid the roar of the tempest and the fury of the 
blast. The great billow is its cradle and the seething foam its 
sheet. 

The sea is the arena of the sublimest phosphorescent and pyro- 
technic phenomena exhibited by nature. This phosphorescence is 
caused by countless millions of sea animalculas, one-twelve-thou- 
sandth of an inch in length. It is not uncommon in tropical seas 
to see the phosphorescent current rushing past a vessel in a band of 
light so luminous that one can easily read the time of night upon 
the face of a watch, and the billows, as they are dashed aside by 
the bow of a ship, look like broad sheets of flame. Especially is 
the great Gulf Stream the theatre of sublime electrical phe- 
nomena. For a continuous, inexhaustible supply of fire-works 
and pyrotechnic beauties it is without a rival. It gives an exhibi- 
tion upon the slightest occasion, and no ship ever crosses that 
wonderful tepid river of the sea without being flooded with sheets 
of vivid lightning and shaken by a terrific bombardment from the 
cloud batteries. 




^tories of ^hipWrecl^. 



Ships that have gone down at sea, 
"When heaven was all tranquillity. 

— Thomas Moore. 



c^ 




5HERE is not a mile of this beach that has not bee 

scene of a shipwreck at one time or another. 

places have witnessed many 

terrible marine tragedies 

during their association 
with human existence, and the beach 

has been thickly 

strewn with the I 
bodies of those 1 
who have made sad ! 
landing thereon. 



n the 
Some 




There are ill-fated crafts whose hulls even now lie half-buried in 
the sands, rotting under the sky. One of these, that of the schooner 
* 'Anson Stinson," which came ashore in 1880, could be seen on 
the beach a year ago, just below the Excursion House. 

Just prior to the Revolution the ship " Ellis," from Liverpool, 
came ashore upon the shoals, which at that time extended more 
than three miles from shore. She was loaded with tea, and had 
on board a British official who had been commissioned to enforce 

79 



8o Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

the Stamp Act. It should suffice every patriotic inquirer to know 
that the representative of Great Britain's tyranny was smothered 
beneath the billows of Absecon Beach, and thrown upon the shore, 
as with indignation and disgust, a limp and lifeless form. In the 
interim between September, 1847, and January, 1856, sixty-four 
vessels came ashore on this beach — five in one night. The loss of 
life was appalling. The '' Santiago de Cuba " came ashore in the 
fall of 1867, when several persons were drowned, including three 
women, two sailors, a girl ten years of age, and her mother. The 
child's body washed ashore some days afterward. The corpse was 
kept until a zinc coffin could be procured and communication 
made with her relatives, who lived at Delphi, Illinois. When the 
grandfather of the child, an old man about seventy-five years of 
age, heard of the fate of his daughter and granddaughter, he be- 
came hopelessly insane and died six weeks after the news reached 
him. A Welshman, rescued from the same ship, returned to his 
own country, and an Irish girl who had accumulated a small fortune 
in California was among the unfortunate seven. The other female 
who was consigned to a watery grave was a Southern lady, who had 
been married only a few weeks. About three months later a 
woman from Michigan, whose husband had been missing for some 
time, appeared at Atlantic City and made inquiry concerning the 
sailors that had been lost. The body of one had been washed 
ashore and the description was given her. She concluded that the 
description answered completely to her long-lost husband, and 
collected from the vessel-owners his back pay. 

A. L. English, in his History of Atlantic City, has preserved from 
oblivion many accounts of shipwreck on this beach, and Captain 
Ryan Adams's log-book, handed down to the third generation, 
records a number of thrilling incidents. From this yellow and 
dusty record some verbatim quotations are herewith made : 

'' In 1830 a nameless craft, with black hull and raking masts, 
supposed to be piratical, was wrecked upon this beach. The crew 
was taken off just before she went to pieces. Soon after they were 
landed the captain, whose mind had been shattered by the disaster, 
handed his gold watch to the mate and then deliberately walked 
into the surf and was drowned. The crew and wreckers joined 
hands and tried to rescue him, but he immediately disappeared. 
His comrades said he had a large sum of specie on his person, and 
expressed much regret at its loss, but no sorrow for the loss of their 
whilom leader. They were villainous-looking men and confirmed 
the suspicions of their nefarious calling by mysteriously decamping 
in the night. 

" In the winter of the same year the ship * George Cannon,' from 
Liverpool, with a cargo of dry-goods and hardware, came ashore. 
The boxes of dry-goods were thrown overboard and soon lined the 
strand. The off-shore people scented the prey and came in crowds. 



Stories of Shipwreck. 8i 

eager for the spoils. Then began the most exciting game of hide- 
and-seek ever known on the seaboard. Cupidity and rapacity 
crushed out all sense of honor. Neighbor robbed neighbor. Holes 
were made in the hills and the boxes buried, but while the party 
who had hidden was gone to seek another somebody would dig it 
out and convey it to another place of concealment. The night 
was bitter cold, and two men who had started to go to a house at 
Cedar Grove perished on the hills near by. 

"■ In 1830 the* Genghis Khan 'was totallydestroyed off this beach. 
The majority of the passengers were saved, among whom was a 
little girl nine years of age, who was restored to joyous parents 
who lived far out in the wilds of the then almost unexplored West. 
Captain Burk, the commander of the vessel, committed suicide. 

'' The schooner 'General Scott' was wrecked in 1840. The 
captain was the only person saved. He floated ashore on a feather 
bed. 

''In 1846 a small schooner, commanded by Captain Lowe, ran 
ashore. As the wreck-boat approached the scene of disaster the 
cries for help were more and more distressing. In the midst of the 
excitement in transferring the crew to land the skipper's wife fell 
into the waves and was drowned." 

The following is the most startling memorandum in Ryan Adams's 
log-book: " April i6th, 1854, the bark Powhatan was wrecked ; 
three hundred and eleven passengers on board ; all lost ; none left 
to tell the tale. Thirty of the bodies came ashore on this beach 
and were taken to the mainland and buried. April 17th, bodies 
found — a lad about sixteen years old; April 18, a young man, a 
girl, and a child two or three years of age ; April 24th, a woman 
about thirty years old, with a linen bag on her neck, fastened with 
a string like a fish-line, containing a writing to carry her safe to 
heaven, written in Dutch; April 22d, found by John Horner, two 
men and one girl. One nian had an anchor-bowl marked between 
his thumb and forefinger; light hair." 

The Rockaway, a newly-launched excursion steamer, was wrecked 
near Pennsylvania Avenue on March 25th, 1877. The boat had left 
Norfolk for New York on the previous Saturday in tow of the Old 
Dominion steamship Wyanoke. She was built at Atlantic City, near 
Norfolk, Virginia, and was designed for the excursion trade between 
New York and Rockaway Beach. The hawser parted during a 
heavy sea, after nightfall, and the new craft went to pieces. No 
lives were lost. The Rockaway was capable of accommodating 
four thousand passengers, and was one of the finest boats of the 
kind ever built. 

On January 9th, 1884, the handsome three-masted schooner, 
" Robert Morgan," from New Haven, came ashore at the foot of 
New York Avenue. She was left stranded high and dry at low 
water and people walked and rode around her. Children played 



Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 



in the sand between the '^ Morgan " and the ebbing tide. She 
remained imbedded in tjie sand for more than five months and was 
visited by thousands of people who came to Atlantic City for 
health or pleasure. An admission fee of ten cents was charged, 
and photographs of the wreck found a ready sale at twenty-five 
cents each. When finally floated, on the nth of June, she was 
comparatively uninjured. 

There are numerous other wrecks that might be mentioned out 



of t he 
which 
fore the 
saving 
and the 
house, in 
scarcely 
weather 
not come 



W^S^^^^^ 



three hundred of 
there is a record. Be- 
establishment of life- 
stations on the coast 
building of the light- 
there was 
a night during severe 
that a vessel did 




^^^^ _ ment of these humane institutions shipwrecks 

^^^^^^^^ and drownings are of rare occurrence. As 

l^lj^^^^^^ nearly as can be ascertained, at least six hun- 
l ffl^^^ M^H| dred vessels have been stranded or wrecked 
I^^B^^^IB and five hundred people have been drowned 
on account of shipwreck within the past seventy 
years upon this beach or within sight of it. 

In this connection it is proper to note that during the last fifty 
years no less than fifty vessels — an average of one a year — hailing 
from Atlantic County have left port under fair skies never to return. 
Both vessels and men were swallowed up in some storm or perished 
by an accident at sea. About the same number of vessels from this 
county have been wrecked somewhere on the coast, the crews or 
portions of them being saved. The total loss has been two hundred 
and fifty-three men and about two million dollars in property. 



Stories of Shipwreck. 



83 



Then drifted ashore, in a night-gown dressed, 

A waif of a girl with her sanded hair, 
And hands like a prayer on her bosom pressed, 

And a smile on her lips that was not despair ; 
No stitch on her garment ever to tell 
Who bore her, who lost her, who loved her well. 
■X- * * * * -x- 

What name?" asked the preacher. *' God knows," they said, 

Nor waited nor wept as they made her bed, 

But sculptured *' God knows " on the slate at her head. 



Qunning and pishing. 




OWHERE else along the coast are 
there greater facilities for sport with 
the rod and the gun than in the 
vicinity of Atlantic City. The bays 
and thoroughfares are a vast water 
preserve, with Nature for their keeper. 
From Grassy Bay and Little Egg 
Harbor on the north to Great Egg 
Harbor and Lake's Bay on the south, 
from the wreck of the Cassandra to 
the wreck of the Diverty, fish of large 
size and fowl of many kind are found 
in abundance. The thoroughfares, 
sounds, and bays teem with milions 
of the finny tribe at certain seasons of 
the year, while the woods on the mainland, or " off-shore," if we 
may use the local vernacular, are splendid feeding grounds for 
quail in the fall months. The meadows also abound with duck, 
geese, plover, snipe, marlin, curlew, and mud-hens. Nowhere can 
the hunter or angler go amiss. It is generally safe to carry the gun 
or the rod, for the fruits thereof will amply repay the drudgery. 
The waters of the sea and bays and the outlying marshes and wood- 
land contain enough to keep the fisherman and hunter in keen 
quest after their game. 

A favorite feeding ground for the robin-breast, or robin-snipe, 
is the sod beach on Brigantine. An old hunter says that for fifteen 
years he has shot them on this spot from behind a blind near Smith's 
Brigantine House before daybreak, catching a bead on their nimble 
bodies only when the white comb of a breaker flashed in the back- 
ground. 

Curlews, both of the long bill and crooked bill varieties, are in 
good flight in the spring and fall of the year. The latter are called 
on the shore horse-foot curlews, from a habit they have of eating 
the eggs of the king or horse-shoe crab. 
84 



Gunning and Fishing, 



85 



Every variety of beach bird can be bagged in the spring if the 
sportsman is speedily on the ground, and a few straggling birds 
may be killed as late as the 15th of June. The gunning is equally 
good in the fall, when the birds make their annual flight southward. 
September is generally a good month to test the sportsman's mettle 
and skill, and, with perseverance, he is sure to return laden with 
small game. Nor will he need any soothing syrup to woo his 
natural rest ; his peregrinations will bring him both appetite, 
fatigue and stamina. Woodcock may be killed in the month of 
July, upland plover after August ist, and mud-hens after August 




WILD DUCK IN GRASSY BAY. 

25th. For extra sport in wing shot in the spring and fall the 
sportsman must visit Grassy Bay, which is convenient of access by 
yachts from the Inlet, where wild duck, brant and geese are found 
in superior numbers. At low water this bay falls dry, and for an 
area of many square miles is a feeding ground for every kind of 
fowl that is common to salt water. Here is found the blue-bill, 
the black duck, the long neck, the red-head, the dipper, the cub- 
head, the widgeon, the granny, and the shelldrake. Marlin, willet, 
plover, robin, snipe, graybacks, calico-backs, black-breast and 
all other snipe are also to be found upon the bars of this bay. 



S6 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



Besides Grassy Bay, there is good gunning in Atlantic County in 
and around Little Bay, Reed's Bay, Absecon Bay, Eagle Bay, 
Duck Thoroughfare, Newfound Water, Dole's Island, Mankiller 
Bay, Gull Island Cove, Oyster Thoroughfare Islands, Shelter 
Islands, Jonas' Island, Book Island, and Lake's Bay. 

The fish most taken hereabouts are the weak fish, king fish, 
flounder, sheepshead, soa bass, black fish, and the Cape May good- 
ies. The weak fish are the most sought after, and are caught nearly 
everywhere ; being gamy, they afford sport to the professional angler 
as well as the novice. The bass are more easily caught, and having 
a large mouth, they frequently swallow the bait, hook and all, and 
are caught with less skill than any other fish. The king fish, when 
hooked, is a gamy fellow, but is apt to take off the bait and leave 
the angler's hook bare. The sheepshead 
usually bites well, but is slow in 
taking the bait in his mouth, 
and even after being / 

hooked, one is not 
sure of him. 
In the 




p^^^"'^' 



TROLLING FOR BLUE FISH. 



first 
place, 
he is very 
strong, and 
if you attempt 
to pull him in by 
main strength and 
awkwardness, the 
chances are that he will 
break your line. The custom 
among experienced fishermen is to drown him out, that is, let him 
have his own way until exhausted, and then haul him in. The 
flounder is a nice fish to catch and bites voraciously. For outside 
fishing a trip to either of the sunken wrecks will give the angler 
fine sport in bass, weak fish, and sheepshead fishing. 

These twin sports of fin and feather are not only delightful in 
themselves, but they serve the better purpose of aiding largely in 
restoring health and strength. The conditions are perfect for this 
way of roughing it; and the invalid., if strong enough to bear the 
slight fatigue, will speedily find relief, if not a cure, for the ailments 
to which his flesh is heir. Good digestion, active nutrition, and 
sound sleep restore the nervous system, and these are largely ob- 
tained by a moderate indulgence in those exhilarating sports, gun- 
ning and fishing. Days and weeks may be spent in cruising about 



Gunning and J^ishing. 87 

through the bays and thoroughfares, with never a flagging or failing 
of interest or lack of occupation which is at the same time enjoy- 
ment. And whils the bronze deepens on the cheek and the pulse 
bounds more vigorously and the step grows more elastic, there is 
no thought of yearning for other scenes, but rather of frequent re- 
gret that the summer vacation must soon end. 

The following information will be of permanent value to those 
who may wish to go in quest of any of the varieties of fish or fowl 
which are found here at certain seasons of the year: 



FISH. 

Blue Fish. — Appear about the middle of May; leave in 
October. 

Sheepshead. — Appear about the loth of June ; leave in Oc- 
tober. 

Weak Fish. — Appear in May ; leave in October. 

Striped Bass. — Found in the rivers on the coast the entire win- 
ter ; more plentiful in summer. 

White Perch. — Come early and remain late; chiefly found in 
brackish waters and in rivers. 

Black Fish. — Bite from istof June, and cease ist of October. 

Sea Bass. — Taken first of July until October. 

King Fish, or Barb. — Come in July and remain until October. 

Flounders (Summer). — Oblong in shape; come in June; stay 
until October. 

Flounders (Winter). — Flounder proper; come in October; 
leave in May. 

PoRGiEs. — Abundant along the coast after July. 

Spot, or Goody. — Summer fish. 

Codfish — Taken late in autumn and in winter. 



FOWL. 

Wild Geese and Brant. — Arrive about the ist of October and 
remain until the last of March. 

Black Ducks. — Arrive late in September and remain until the 
ist of April. They are sometimes seen here in summer. 

Broad Bills. — Arrive about the 15th of October. 

Cub Heads, Dippers, and Red Heads. — Habits similar to broad 
bills. Arrive in October and remain until April ist. 

Gray Ducks and Teal. — Arrive September ist, leave in No- 
vember; come again for a short time in spring on their northern 
migration. 

English Snipe. — Make their appearance about the ist of April, 



88 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

remain but a short time, go north, and return in October on their 
way south. 

Wilson Snipe, Robin Snipe, Curlews, and Yellow Legs. — 
Come about the ist of May, make short stay, return in July, and 
remain till October. 

WiLLETT. — Willetts remain and breed in salt marshes. 

Plover. — The several varieties arrive in May, remaining during 
the summer. 

Tell-Tales. — Arrive in May and pass northward; return in 
autumn for a short stay. 

But remember that there are in New Jersey certain enactments 
which must be respected. They are known as '* Game Laws." 
They prohibit persons who are gunning for geese, brant, or ducks 
from placing their decoys further off from the edge of the marsh, 
island, bar, bank, blind, or ice than three rods distance. All per- 
sons are prohibited from pursuing any fowl after night with a light. 
This class of sportsmen are called " pot hunters," and are held in 
disrepute by legitimate sportsmen. 

Briefly stated, the game laws of New Jersey are as follows : 

It is unlawful for non-residents to hunt in the counties of Camden, 
Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May without 
being a member of the West Jersey Game Protective Society, under 
penalty of fifty dollars. 

Fee of membership in this Society is five dollars for first year, and 
for each succeeding year two dollars. 

It is unlawful to kill, etc., any gray, or fox squirrel, between 
the first day of January and the first day of September, or any black 
squirrel, between the first day of June and the first day of Sep- 
tember, or any upland or grass plover between the first day of 
January and the first day of August, or any woodcock, except only 
between the first day of July and the first day of August, and be- 
tween the last day of September and sixteenth day of December, 
under penalty of fifteen dollars. 

No person shall kill, etc., any ruffled grouse, commonly called 
pheasant, or quail, sometimes called Virginia partridge, except only 
between the last day of October and the last day of December ; or 
any rabbit, except only between the last day of October and the 
last day of December, under penalty of fifteen dollars. 

By special act of the Legislature the open season for rabbits in 
Atlantic County is extended to January 15th. 

It is unlawful to kill, etc., any grouse, or prairie fowl between 
the first day of December and the fifteenth day of October, under 
penalty of ten dollars 

It is unlawful to kill, etc., any rail bird, except in the months 
of September, October, and November ; or any reed bird or march 
hen, except from the twenty-fifth day of August to the first day of 
December, under penalty of five dollars. 



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90 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



It is unlawful to kill or shoot at any wild pigeon while on its nest- 
ing-ground j or discharge any fire-arms within one-quarter mile of 
its nesting place. 

No person shall kill, etc., any summer duck, commonly called 
wood duck, between the first day of January and the first day of 
September, under penalty of five dollars. 

Insectivorous or song birds cannot be killed at any time, under 
a penalty of from five to fifty dollars. 








JVIortuary statistics. 




Health, 
as follows 



ESIDES the testimony of those who have been to 
Atlantic City and found healing in its atmos- 
phere, another evidence of the salubrity of its 
climate is its low death-rate. The statistics 
given in the table below are taken from the 
official records of the various State Boards of 
The deaths in Atlantic City during 1887 were 
Non-resident visitors, 107; residents, 125. 
The population of Atlantic City in 1880 was five thou- 
sand five hundred, and in 1885 it was eight thousand, an 
increase of forty-five per cent, in five years, or at the rate 
of nine per cent, a year. At this rate of increase the population 
of the place at the close of 1887 was ten thousand. The record 
of one hundred and twenty-five deaths during the year shows the 
death-rate to be 12.5 to each thousand of population. The percent- 
age of deaths during preceding years was about the same. 

As a basis of comparison, we give the following table of the 
mortality of various cities of the United States : 



Rate per 1,000. ' 

New York 25.31 1 

Philadelphia 21.20 

Chicago 20.17 ! 

Brooklyn 28.31 | 

St. Louis 22.12 

Cincinnati 19.09 I 

Baltimore 21.53 

San Francisco 19.48 I 

Cleveland.. 21.18 

Washington 24.45 ' 

Buffalo 17.33 ! 

Rochester 23.39 

Boston 28.57 

Wilmington, Del 23.47 { 

Richmond, Va 25.44 

Milwaukee , 24.52 1 



Rate per 1,000. 

New Haven 16.50 

Hartford 18.63 

Pittsburgh 21.59 

Nashville 23.11 

Worcester, Mass 20.05 

Cambridge, Mass 25.12 

Mobile, Ala 23.05 

Charleston, S. C 29.16 

Evansville, Ind 19.52 

Plattsburgh, N. Y 25.00 

Concord, N. H 13.20 

Savannah 22.54 

Providence, R. 1 22.07 

Norfolk, Va 21,19 

Los Angelos, Cal 12.06 

Newark, N. J 28.12 

91 



92 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



Also the following places of nearly the same population as 
Atlantic City : 



Population. Rate. 

Waltham, Mass 15,200 12.60 

Bristol, Conn 6,500 31.04 

Norwalk, Conn. 16,000 19.50 

Stamford, Conn 14,000 28,06 

Amsterdam, N. Y ...14,000 12.85 

Ashtabula, Ohio 6,500 12.00 

Fostoria, Ohio 6,000 14.75 

Youngstown, Ohio 15,430 20.99 



Population. Rate. 

Jacksonville, 111 10,927 18.26 

Keokuk, Iowa 14,000 15.10 

Clarksville, Tenn 8,000 15.50 

Asheville, N. C 6,000 22.44 

Raleigh, N. C 15,000 20.00 

Santa Cruz, Cal 6,000 13.29 

Vallejo, Cal 5, 500 26.18 

Atlantic City, 10,000 12.5 



Atlantic City being a popular resort for invalids, especially those 
suffering from chronic diseases, the actual number of deaths within 
its limits is necessarily large. This is especially the case in sum- 
mer, when large numbers of infants suffering from diseases incident 
to childhood at that season of the year are brought here, some of 
them in a dying condition when they arrive. In places like 
Atlantic City there are various institutions for the sick, where the 
death-rate is also large. There are at least three such institutions 
in this city. Moreover, many of our permanent residents are what 
physicians call "impaired lives" — persons with chest, rheumatic, 
nervous, or other troubles, who live here throughout the year on 
account of the relief which the climate affords. These are counted 
among the permanent residents in making up the death-rate, 
though they rightly belong to the non-residents. Sufficient is 
shown by the above table, however, to satisfy any one that Atlantic 
City has a death-rate much lower than that of any other city in 
the country. The well-ascertained healthfulness of this city has 
made it as much an invalid's as it is a tourist's resort. There is no 
limit to its popularity with the medical profession, who are almost 
unanimous in pronouncing it the best winter and summer home for 
their patients. 



Institutions for the Jifflicted. 




URNEY Cottage, Virginia Avenue 
below Pacific, was the summer 
home of the late Mrs. Eliza P. 
Gurne}^ from i860 until 
the time of her death, 
about nine years ago. 
Her whole life was occu- 
pied with deeds of char- 
ity, and though an influ- 
ential member of the 
Society of Friends, she 
gave liberally to Chris- 
tians of every name. 
Assisting in the organization of Sunday schools was her special 
pleasure, and the poor always found in her a friend. She enjoyed 
a personal acquaintance with many distinguished persons, and was 
a staunch friend of President Lincoln, who, in a letter written a 
few months before his death, said he was ''much indebted to the 
good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers 
and consolations, and tonooneof them more than to Mrs. Gurney.'* 
Three years ago the Gurney Cottage was leased by the managers 
of the Friends' Asylum, at Frankford, Philadelphia, who con- 
verted it into a sanitarium for the treatment of nervous affections 
and mild forms of mental disease. Cases of nervous prostration, 
convalescents from acute brain disease, and those mild mental dis- 
orders needing isolation from former surroundings can here find a 
home for treatment free from unnecessary restraint, where medical 
care and skillful nursing produce the best results. 

The building is situated near the ocean, and has all the modern 
conveniences, including good sanitary arrangements. It is open 
all the year, is well heated, and is lighted by electricity. Twelve 
patients can be accommodated, both sexes being admitted. The 
establishment is presided over by a matron, and a sufficient number 
of nurses are employed to care for the patients. It is under the 
supervision of Dr. John C. Hall, Superintendent of the Friends' 

93 



94 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



Asylum in Philadelphia, who visits the place every week, and in 
the interval the immediate care and treatment of the patients are 
confined to Dr. John E. Sheppard, of Atlantic City, who makes 
daily visits to the institution. During the first eight months thirty 
patients were admitted, a number of whom were discharged as 
cured. The results of the treatment at the seashore, the Superin- 
tendent reports, have been thus far very satisfactory. The good 
effects of a change of air, the comparative freedom from restraint, 
and the home life, felt and appreciated by all, have had a marked 
effect upon the patients and contributed greatly to their recovery. 
Dr. Hall adds that his experience at Atlantic City proves the 
desirability of the method, and that it affords many advantages not 
to be found in the usual hospital treatment. 




MERCER HOME. 



MERCER MEMORIAL HOME. 



This institution, the corporate name of which is Seaside House for 
Invalid Women, was organized in 1878. 

Its object is to provide at the seashore a place where invalid 
women of moderate means can spend a few weeks and have not only 
the comforts of a home, but also good nursing and the care of a 
physician, at a price which they are able to pay, but much below 
the actual cost. It differs from other seaside institutions for women 
in that it is intended for invalids only, and in this respect it meets 
a want which has often been felt by those who come in contact with 
the masses of workingwomen in our large cities. 



Institutiofis for the Afflicted. 95 

The work of the institution was begun June 22d, 1878, in a little 
cottage with accommodations for fourteen patients. In February, 
1880, it was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey. The ca- 
pacity of the little cottage was nearly doubled in 1881, in order to 
in some measure meet the demands made for admission. 

In 1884 the present building, at the corner of Ohio and Pacific 
Avenues, was erected, largely through the munificence of the late 
Mrs. J. C. Mercer, of Philadelphia, who gave forty thousand dollars 
for the purpose. 

This building is one of the finest of its size in Atlantic City, and 
is provided with every convenience for the care of sick women. Its 
sanitary arrangements are as near perfect as they can be made. 
Besides sitting-rooms, bath-rooms, parlors, writing-room, dining- 
rooms, offices, linen-rooms, trunk-rooms, servants' rooms, and the 
like, there are fifty-eight bed-rooms, capable of accommodating 
seventy patients. These are neatly furnished, and each patient has 
a comfortable spring-bed, with hair mattress. There are sixteen 
bed-rooms on the first floor, and an easy, inclined plane runs from 
this floor to the ground, so that those unable to walk can be wheeled 
from their bed-rooms to the beach. During the season of 1887 
more than six hundred invalid women were cared for in the insti- 
tution. 

The difference between the receipts from board of patients and the 
current expenses amounts to about three thousand dollars annually, 
and, as the whole income of the institution from invested funds is less 
than three hundred dollars, a very large portion of this deficit must 
be provided for by voluntary contributions. These will be thank- 
fully received by any of the managers. The house is open to vis- 
itors every afternoon except Sunday. The attending physician is 
Dr. William H. Bennett, assisted by Dr. J. E. Sheppard. 



children's seashore house. 

This institution (the first of its kind in the United States) was 
opened in a small cottage in 1872. In July, 1883, it was re-opened 
in its present location, at the sea-end of Ohio Avenue, occupying 
what is now the main building. Numerous smaller buildings have 
since been erected within the grounds by visitors at the different 
hotels, each bearing the name of the house by which it was erected. 
It has now accommodations for about one hundred children and 
twenty-six mothers. The object of the corporation is to maintain 
at the seashore an institution in which children of the poorer classes, 
suffering from non-contagious diseases or from debility incident to 
the hot weather and a crowded city, may have good nursing and 
medical care, without regard to creed, color or nationality. 

Children over three years of age are cared for by competent 



g6 Ha?id-Book of Atlantic City. 

nurses in the large, airy wards of the main building ; and in order 
that those too young to be separated from their mothers may also 
be admitted, little cottages have been erected for the mothers 
almost upon the beach. One of them is assigned to each mother 
with a sick infant. She may also have one other child with her, 
and have for herself and children the exclusive use of the cottage, 
taking care of it and her children, but having her meals provided 
for her in the main building. A separate building, located imme- 
diately on the beach, is used for very serious cases needing closer 
attention and greater quiet than can be had otherwise. 

The children are under the care of a resident physician, a corps 
of nurses, and a matron, and the total charge, including board, 
washing, medical attendance, bathing, and, occasionally, driving 
or sailing, is not over three dollars per week. A number — limited 
by the means at the command of the managers — are received with- 
out charge. Applications for admission are made to an examining 
physician, who furnishes railroad tickets, provided at a reduced 
rate. 

No more worthy charity could appeal to the beneficence of those 
who are blessed with means. The resident physician is Dr. W. 
H. Bennett, assisted by Dr. John E. Sheppard, of Atlantic City. 
The House is open to visitors Tuesday and Friday mornings from 
half-past nine to half-past ten o'clock, and every afternoon from 
three to five o'clock. 



Longport and Chelsea. 




ISITORS to Atlantic City should 
not fail to see Longport and 
Chelsea, which bear much the 
same relation to Atlantic City 
that the numerous suburban 
villages bear to the two great 
cities of New York or Phila- 
delphia. They are adjuncts 
and not rivals of the older 
and larger place. Longport is 
a collection of attractive 
homes below Atlantic City, 
and occupies the western end of the island, bordering on Great Egg 
Harbor Inlet. Its water advantages are unique. The ocean, the inlet, 
and the Thoroughfare surge restlessly or wave pleasantly on three 
sides of it. The island narrows and is scarcely more than one square 
in width in the improved portion of Longport, rendering both bath- 
ing and fishing convenient. The ocean beach is broad, smooth, and 
level, making a fine promenade ground when the tide is out and 
safe bathing when the tide is in. Fish are abundant in the 
Thoroughfare, and are caught steadily from the pier and break- 
waters, which accommodate and protect the shore at different 
angles. 

Mr. M, S. McCuUough purchased the site of Longport, some two 
hundred and fifty acres, of Mr. James Long in 1882, and named the 
town, which he immediately laid out, in honor of the former owner. 
Improvements have gone on steadily. Broad streets have been made 
and graveled, a boardwalk to the length of ten squares has been built 
along the beach, railroad and telephonic communication made with 
Atlantic City, and a post-office established by Mr. John Ober- 
holtzer. The wharfage is good, a couple of little steamers meeting 

97 



9S 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



trains and making regular trips to Ocean City and Somers' Point, 
thus affording a through route to those places from Philadelphia. 
Sail-boats accommodate those who desire such recreation. 

The buildings of Longport are all first-class. Temperance and 
sanitary restrictions in the deeds possess attractions for those who 
summer there. The bearing of the place is literary rather than 
fashionable. Two resident authors, Professor J. P. Remington and 
Mrs. S. L. Oberholtzer, have well-used libraries there. The former 
has written a number of standard medical and pharmaceutical works, 
while the latter is the author of several volumes of poetry and one 
or two works of fiction. The Agassiz Microscopical Society holds 
regular meetings throughout the season, while naturalists and 
scientists are among the summer guests. 

The Aberdeen, erected by M. S. McCullough in 1884, and 




MRS. OBERHOLTZER'S COTTAGE. 

doubled in capacity in 1886, accommodates many guests, and is 
supplied with all modern conveniences, including hot sea-water 
baths. The cottages are diverse in architectural design. Those 
occupied yearly by their owners are Amos Dotterer's, John and S. 
L. Oberholtzer' s, Professor Joseph P. Remington's, Carrie Rem- 
ington's and James Long's. Mr. Long's house was built in 1886, 
and is one of the most imposing homes along the Atlantic coast. 
Several pretty cottages belonging to different persons are rented 
for summer use. The Bay-View Club-House is a substantial 
structure on Seventeenth Avenue, and is the headquarters of the 
Bay- View Club, which is composed of thirty Philadelphia gentle- 
men. New houses are regularly going up. The place has present 
comfort and steady growth. Mrs. H. M. Lawton, who prepares 
tastefully many varieties of marine algae, resides in Longport. 



Lo7igport and Chelsea. 99 

A few squares below the lower limit of Atlantic City, a select 
suburb, called Chelsea, is rapidly building. It claims to have the 
best bathing-grounds on the island, and expects to be a second 
Elberon. It is laid out on a comprehensive scale, with wide streets 
and large lots, those fronting on Pacific Avenue being sixty feet 
wide and the corner ones sixty-five feet. Restrictions embodied 
in the deeds require all houses to be set back a good distance from 
the street, and prevent them also from being crowded closely 
together. Only one building for dwelling-house purposes is per- 
mitted on each lot. No liquor saloon or other undesirable places 
are allowed in the place, and stringent regulations govern the 
drainage arrangements. The spring of 1888 finds a dozen houses 
already in course of erection there, with every prospect of a rapid 
increase. 

There are many persons who prefer that their summer residence 
should be select and exclusive, with plenty of breathing- room and 
a guarantee against objectionable neighbors, as well as against too 
near neighbors of any kind. Chelsea seems to offer them just 
what they require — a combination of suburban attractions together 
with proximity to the railroads, churches, schools, shops, and great 
hotels of Atlantic City proper. The Camden and Atlantic Rail- 
road will have a station at Chelsea, and both the street cars and 
omnibusses will convey passengers to and from the city. 

Besides the handsome cottages already erected for the occupancy 
of wealthy Philadelphia families, many of the better class of 
Atlantic City residents — the bankers, merchants, physicians, 
lawyers, etc., are considering the advisability of ''moving down 
to Chelsea." It promises to become the fashion. 

The Chelsea Beach Company was organized in 1883 by Mrs. 
Mary A. Riddle, Dr. Rebecca C. Hallowell, Miss Julia M. French, 
Julia P. Brown, Henry Mosebach, and others. Mrs. Riddle was 
the active spirit among the enterprising ladies who first conceived 
the idea of creating such a suburb. She was President of the 
Company during the first two years of its existence — its most try- 
ing period — and is still one of its largest stockholders. The fol- 
lowing are the present officers of the Company : President, D. S. 
Dengler ; Vice-President, Dr. Boardman Reed ; Treasurer, Henry 
Mosebach; Secretary, Ebenezer Wood, with a board of nine 
Directors. 



jJirits for the geasliore. 




HE following hints to seashore 
visitors may be of interest : It 
is better to telegraph in advance 
for rooms at hotels. A single 
room means a room for one per- 
son; a double room means 
a room for two persons ; a 
double-bedded room means 
a room with two beds. Al- 
ways mention the day of 
the week and train by which 
you will arrive. 



To discharge sewage di- 
rectly into the ocean in 
front of the bathing- 
grounds, as is done at some 
coast resorts, is highly 
objectionable. To let it 
empty into a sluggish creek 
or ditch running through 
the town, as is the method at other resorts, is even more dan- 
gerous. 



The atmospheric pressure at the sea level has been computed to 
be about fifteen pounds to the square inch, which amounts to from 
fourteen to sixteen tons upon the whole surface of the human body. 
At an elevation of a few hundred feet above the sea the pressure is 
materially less. The change from a high or even medium altitude 
to the seaside involves an increase of the pressure upon every square 
inch of the body. To this fact is largely due the extraordinary 
feeling of buoyancy and vigor, as well as the stimulation of all the 
nutritive processes, which are experienced upon going to the shore. 

I GO 



Hints for the Seashore. 



lOI 



As to exercise, the danger is that invalids visiting Atlantic City 
will take too much, owing to the extraordinary stimulative effects 
of the sea air. They need, therefore, to be careful that they do not 
exhaust their small stock of vitality as fast as it can be replenished. 
But this tendency is much less in winter than in summer, when the 
nightly hops and other pleasures and dissipations keep the more im- 
pressionable visitors in a constant whirl of excitement. 

For some persons the air alone is sufficient, while others get on 
famously with the air and the help of judicious bathing. Still others 
need medicines, and suffer by having them stopped during their 
stay at the seashore. For these the tonic and alterative virtues of 
the air often furnish just the adjuvants necessary to accomplish a 




cure. The medicines which at home were nugatory or only half 
successful may succeed perfectly with the aid of the sea air when 
neither alone would be sufficient. 



Ozone or oxygen in an active electrical state is an important in- 
gredient of the atmosphere at the seashore as well as in mountain 
districts, while it is nearly absent from the devitalized air of large 
cities. This is the most powerful oxidizing agent known, and its 
presence unquestionably greatly enhances the vigor and activity of 
all the vital processes. 

A noteworthy property of sea air is its greater density as com- 
pared with the atmosphere of inland places which have a consider- 



I02 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



able altitude. This increase of density enables more oxygen to be 
taken into the lungs with each inspiration, and thus increases 
oxidation. 



To the influence of the Gulf Stream we must attribute the geni- 
ality and curious softness of the atmosphere which greets the new- 
comer at this favored spot. The mean temperature in January is 
35°, and often at mid-day stands at 50° in the coldest months of our 
northern year. 




THE TRAYMORE HOUSE. 



The matter of diet is not so important at the seashore in winter 
as in summer, but it is safe to counsel all invalids to restrain the 
prodigious appetite they are almost sure to have soon after coming 
here in winter; otherwise constipation, headaches, and loss of ap- 
petite will follow. 

It is a mistake to suppose that one cannot take cold at the sea- 
shore. Invalids should take the usual precautions against being 
chilled. In the winter season and on summer evenings wraps are 
always in order out-of-doors, though in summer they need not be 
heavy. 

A radiation of heat is constantly taking place from such a large 



Hi fits for the Seashore. 



103 



body of salt water as the ocean, which is warmer in winter and 
cooler in summer than the surface of the land adjacent ; hence the 
air over the sea at the shore is usually warmer in winter, though 
cooler in summer, than that of interior places in the same latitude. 



Seaside towns located at the extremities of capes, where the 
wind blows off large bodies of water on nearly all sides, have 
a more humid air than those not so exposed. Thus Atlantic City 
has been found to have a much drier air than most seashore 
resorts. This may be partly due to the trend of the coast at this 
point and to its distance from the mouth of any large river, since 
winds often seem to focus at the mouths of rivers, and the stronger 




MICHIGAN BUILDING. 



the winds from the seaward the greater the degree of moisture. 
Furthermore, the large extent of very dry, sandy barrens directly 
behind the city causes the land breezes to be particularly devoid 
of moisture. 



Water absorbs heat and parts with it by radiation more slowly 
than the land. Hence in hot weather water is comparatively 
cooler than the land, while in cold weather it is comparatively 
warmer. Therefore the summer temperature of a country border- 
ing on the sea is lowered, while the winter temperature is moder- 



I04 Hand- Book of Atlafitic City. 

ated. This explains why Atlantic City is cooler in summer and 
warmer in winter than places inland. The prevailing winds here 
are from the sea, and winds which com.e from the sea temper the 
extremes of heat and cold. 



None but the better class of hotels and representative business 
men of Atlantic City are invited to advertise in this Hand-Book, 
and the fact that they appear is a guarantee of their character. 

There are certain things with which every visitor must supply 
himself before starting on his journey homeward, and certain facts, 
a knowledge of which will be useful to him while here. For this 
reason a little time devoted to an examination of our advertising 
pages will doubtless be profitably spent. 



Pulmonary and bronchial troubles are much alleviated by the 
warmed ozone of Atlantic City. 



The south and east winds of Atlantic City are warmed in winter 
by their passage across the Gulf Stream ; and therefore the captious, 
impatient invalid can rise in the morning free from that pinching 
pain which inclines him to speak in uncomplimentary terms of the 
thermometer. 



It is a wet soil rather than a moist air which is so injurious to 
health, and a considerable portion of our Atlantic coast, including 
that bordering the southern part of New Jersey, has an exceedingly 
dry, porous, sandy soil, which permits water to rapidly sink away, 
except during spells of very rainy weather. 

The brisk sea-breezes of early spring, which sing and whistle 
around the cottage gables and through the bare branches, inspire 
the visitors with longings for the vigorous exercise of brisk walks 
and long horseback rides. From these they return with such glow- 
ing cheeks, sparkling eyes, and keen appetites that the mere sight 
of them is a better advertisement of Atlantic City air as a tonic 
than all the books that could be written. 



A work on climatology, published in the eighteenth century, 
speaks of the exceptional dryness of the atmosphere on Absecon 
Beach, remarking that there was only one spot upon the seacoast 
anywhere in the world which was comparable to this in that 
respect. It is certainly remarkable, though scarcely surprising, 
that this merit upon which, more than any other, the future great- 
ness and glory of Atlantic City will rest, should have been recog- 
nized at that distant period. 



Ground and £bout. 



PLACES OF INTEREST IN AND NEAR ATLANTIC CITY, AND OTHER INFORMA- 
TION FOR VISITORS. 



DMITTING that Atlantic 
City is the principal sea- 
coast resort of the country, 
and an object 
of pilgrimage 
to thousands of 
people from 
every walk of 
life and from 
every part of 
the land, it is 




well to trace some of its attractions, and thus obtain some appreciation of its 
advantages and claims to consideration, which may assist in a proper estimate 
of its importance. The history of the place will not be herein considered, 
for however interesting the historical features of this favorite locality, they 
take vastly inferior place when compared with its natural and artificial 
attractions. Here are to be found all the requisites which enter into the 
constitution of a complete seashore watering place. Aside from the attrac- 
tions of land and sea — the drives, the beach, the boardwalk, the fishing, the 
yachting and the bathing, the bracing air and other attributes of the grand old ocean 
io6 



Around and About. 



107 



— aside from these, Atlantic City affords diversions of a secular or religious character 
above and beyond those of any other seacoast resort. One can go a-shopping here, 
find books, papers, small wares, material for embroidery, painting and drawing ; 
can visit a circulating library, or take an interest in the church of his choice, get 
acquainted with the minister, and help along the good work. If one chooses, he 
can give a private entertainment in the evening at either of the ocean parlors, 
which afford to the visitor a somewhere to go, an object and an end to an other- 
wise purposeless stroll along the strand. Atlantic City long since learned how 
best to provide for its summer and winter guests, and it is now the business of 
the place to set forth its attractions, which are all in the direction of making 
one's stay delightful. 



THE BOARDWALK. 

To Atlantic City belongs the credit of having introduced what is now a feature 
of a dozen seaside resorts — the boardwalk. This was first built in 1S70, five 
thousand dollars being raised for that purpose by the sale of city scrip. The 
venture was regarded in an unfavorable light by many of the conservative citi- 
zens, some of whom were large owners of real estate, but the younger men 
carried the project through on money privately borrowed until the issue of the 
city's obligations could be legalized. The boardwalk was destroyed by severe 
storms in the winter of 1883-4, hut was rebuilt in a more substantial manner in 
the spring of 1884 at a cost of less than ten thousand dollars. This walk, now 
about four miles in length, and extending from the Inlet to the suburb of 
Chelsea, is the distinctive feature of Atlantic City. It follows the contour of the 
beach just above the line of high-water, and is lighted with the electric 
light its entire length from the first of March to the middle of September. On 
a moonlight evening, when the beach is crowded with vehicles and the prome- 
nade thronged with pedestrians, Atlantic City presents a scene of gayety un- 
equaled anywhere else in the country. 



THE LIGHTHOUSE. 

The lighthouse is an object of much interest, at the northeastern end of the 
island, the house of the keeper, Major A. G. Wolf, facing Rhode Island Avenue. 
There are two assistant keepers, S. F. Adams and Frank T. Hills, The extreme 
height of the tower, from base to pinnacle, is one hundred and sixty-seven feet, 
to outside gallery one hundred and fifty feet, and to the focus of the lamp one 
hundred and fifty-nine feet. The ascent of the gallery is by two hundred and 
twenty-eight spiral steps. The lamp is what is known as Funck's mineral-oil 
lamp, with fixed white light and Fresnel lens of the first order, and from the deck 
of a vessel can be distinguished from other lights at a distance of twenty miles. 
The lighthouse is open to visitors from nine A. M. to twelve M. in summer time, 
and from eleven to twelve in the winter season, Sundays and stormy days ex- 
cepted. 

English's History of Atlantit City gives a history of the lighthouse, from which 
we make this extract: The great number of wrecks that were continually occur- 
ring on the beach caused Dr. Jonathan R. Pitney and other gentlemen to turn 
their attention to the absolute necessity that existed for the erection of a light- 
house at Atlantic City. Between 1834 and 1840 the proposal was first agitated. 
After a great waste of trouble and money, a Congressional appropriation of five 
thousand dollars was at last voted upon the proviso that a satisfactory report 
should first be made by a competent ofiicial of the Naval Department. Com- 
modore La Vallette was commissioned to make the report. He visited the beach, 
examined the coast, and requested a letter from Dr. Pitney on the subject. Not- 
withstanding the exertions of Dr. Pitney, the Commodore made an unfavorable 



io8 



Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 



report, and the lighthouse project slept for several years. In 1853, after the rail- 
road had been surveyed, Dr. Pitney again agitated the subject. He circulated 
petitions for signatures, wrote to Congressmen, and published articles iti the 
newspapers. The result of these labors was the granting of an appropriation 
of thirty-five thousand dollars for a lighthouse. Thus Atlantic City has to-day 
one of the best lighthouses in the country, which, wiih later improvements, cost 
upward of fifty thousand dollars. The tower of the lighthouse was first illumi- 
nated i,n January, 1857. 

' The lighthouse is a perpetual snare for birds. In their spring and fall migra- 
tions birds of all descriptions, from the wild goose to the bobolink, are attracted 
at night by the light in the tower, and dash against it with such force as to kill 
about one-third of their number. The others, maimed and bleeding, flutter 
against the screen outside until taken in by the humane keeper. The live birds 




SmMhu'^^'j^''' 



LIGHTHOUSE. 



are kept until morning in perforated pasteboard boxes and then released. As 
many as four hundred and eighty-one birds, dead or alive, have been entrapped 
in a single night in the manner described. Major Wolf has a number of rare 
specimens mounted, and others have been sent to ornithologists in various parts 
of the country. In a letter to Major Wolf, by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, head of the 
Division of Economic Ornithology at Washington, the latter says : ** Your reports 
are the most complete and valuable schedules received from any light station 
during the past season, and we are grateful for the trouble you have taken in 
preparing them." It is a fact not generally known that migrating birds usually 
fly from a mile to a mile and a half high. But being pressed to earth by storms 
or storm clouds, they naturally fly toward so bright a light as that in the light- 
house tower. The families of the keeper and his assistants, and the members of 
the Atlantic City Life Saving Station frequently diet on bird-pie, and the latter 
have cultivated such a taste for it that not long since they ate a pie in which 



Around and About. 109 

were one hundred and fifty-two of the fattest birds that ever flew. It is even 
hinted that when the pie was opened the men began to sing, and one of them 
said unto his mate, '' Isn't this a dainty dish ?" to which the other replied, " Yes ; 
fit to set before the king," 



LIFE-SAVING STATION. 

The Atlantic City Life- Saving Station is situated at Pacific and Vermont Ave- 
nues, and is in charge of Captain Amasa Bowen, with seven assistants. The 
present building was finished in December, 1884, and is the finest life-saving 
station on the coast of the United States. It is a pretty Gothic structure, with 
three rooms and a pantry on the first floor and three rooms on the second. Above 
the roof there is a tower or lookout, where a constant watch is kept for vessels in 
distress. The building is open to visitors at all hours of the day, and the obliging 
captain or any of his assistants will take pleasure in explaining to any one the 
method of saving life and property from destruction by the fury of the elements. 
On the first clear day of each week the crew goes through an interesting drill 
with the mortar and lifeline, sea-car and surf-boat, beginning at eight o'clock in 
the morning. 

The first life-saving station established on this beach was opened nearly forty 
years ago, and was known as the Government Boat-House, with Ryan Adams as 
keeper. It stood near Connecticut and Pacific Avenues, about where the Ocean 
House now stands. "When James Buchanan was elected President, Samuel 
Adarns succeeded Ryan Adams, holding the position for five years, when Barton 
Gaskill was appointed by President Lincoln. He retained the position for sixteen 
consecutive years. When the improved system was adopted, in conformity with 
an act of Congress, approved June i8th, 1878, the station was moved to its 
present site, in the rear of the lighthouse. Captain Bowen has been the efficient 
keeper for the past nine years. 



UNITED STATES SIGNAL STATION, 



The United States Signal Station in Atlantic City is situated in the Bank 
Building, corner Atlantic and North Carolina Avenues, and is in charge of Mr. 
G. A. Loveland, signal observer. This station was opened December loth, 
1873, in the Government Life-Saving House, about one hundred yards from the 
lighthouse. Recently it was removed to its present location. The elevation of 
the barometer above the level of the sea is thirty-four feet. The instrument shelter 
is of the standard portable pattern, and is placed on the northern end of the 
building. The anemometer, wind-vane, and rain-gauge are on well-exposed 
parts of the building. The station is supplied with a complete outfit for inter- 
national signals. Visitors will be welcomed at any hour of the day by Signal 
Observer Loveland, who always finds pleasure in explaining the methods of 
conducting the signal service. 



BEACH THOROUGHFARE. 



The Thoroughfare is a sheet of water that abounds in the finest fish, oysters, 
crabs and clams, and is the rendezvous of a fleet of graceful yachts, in which 
the visitor can cruise for pleasure or for fishing, either on the smooth waters of the 
inlet or upon the briny waters of the Atlantic. Omnibuses will convey visitors 
either to Sykes' Wharf or Higbee's Bridge, where boats can be hired and fishing- 
tackle procured at a moderate charge. 



no Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 

BRIGANTINE BEACH AND PETERS' BEACH. 

Brigantine Beach is another of the old-time resorts of the sportsmen who are 
used to roughing it. For this sort of pleasure it is one of the choicest places 
along the coast. Blue-fish, flounders, porgies, bass, and weak-fish are caught in 
abundance. The adjacent meadows and marshes are alive with snipe, curlew, 
marlin, and the whole family of wading birds. Wild geese, duck, brant and teal 
are to be had in large quantities in season. The crabbing is exceptionally good, 
and the bathing is safe. 

The upper end of this island-beach has been from time immemorial the breed- 
ing-place for sea-gulls. Myriads of these birds congregate here. The eggs are 
laid in the sand, the nest being a mere hollow, with sometimes a few twigs and 
leaves. The breeding time is July and August. Then the beach is well worth 
visiting. As a fowl for table use, the sea-gull is not a delightsome luxury. If 
you want something particularly tough, oily, fishy and otherwise disagreeable to 
eat, shoot a sea-gull and cook it. That is to say, if you are an exceptionally 
good shot, for there are few birds which are more difficult to bring down when on 
the wing. 

Yachts leave the Inlet House daily, conveying passengers to Peters' Beach or 
Brigantine, both on the opposite side of the inlet. There are two large hotels on 
Brigantine and one on Peters' Beach. Mr. Alfred B. Smith, of the Brigantine" 
House, is a hospitable landlord, guarding carefully the comfort of his guests. His 
brother, Mr. Charles Smith, of Peters' Beach, is equally attentive to those who 
visit his house. The Peters' Beach House is delightfully located, and is a favor- 
ite rendezvous for those fond of boating, gunning or fishing. Oysters are taken 
fresh from the water almost at the door of the house. It has cool rooms, fine 
verandas, and first-class accommodations for guests. It commands a. full view of 
Atlantic City, and is only fifteen minutes' sail from the inlet. 



HOT AND COLD BATHS. 

The hot sea-water baths are in great favor with visitors to Atlantic City, and 
invalids especially derive great benefit from them. Persons suffering from 
rheumatism have, often been permanently cured. Freshness and vigor are im- 
parted to all who use them. They are better than medicines, and physicians 
recommend them. The old, reliable establishment of Kipple & McCann, at the 
sea end of Ocean Avenue, is fitted up with every convenience, and has a sun-par- 
lor attached. Many prefer the hot baths to surf-bathing, even in summer time, 
and as they have accommodations for both classes, Kipple & McCann's place is 
extensively patronized. Their sun-parlor is a rendezvous, a place of meeting, 
for boardwalk promenaders. At the ofifice there is a register where guests at any 
hotel or boarding-house are invited to register their names, by which means prompt 
delivery of telegrams and express packages is insured and their whereabouts 
made known to friends. The place thus becomes a bureau of information. 



THE MICHIGAN BUILDING. 

Thousands of people have noticed the attractive cottage of Barclay Lippincott, 
on States Avenue, without knowing anything of its history. This building was 
purchased by Mr. Lippincott at the close of the Centennial Exposition in Phila- 
delphia, and removed to Atlantic City in sections. It was one of the most artisti- 
cally designed and finely finished State buildings on the Centennial grounds, the 
airy and graceful proportions of the superstructure culminating in a high villa 
tower. The building is made of native Michigan woods, and the interior is 
adorned with rich engravings of oiled and polished wood of every variety grown 
in the State. A room on the second floor, used as a parlor at the Centennial, 
was a gem of comfort and taste. 



Around and About. 



Ill 



HANDSOME RESIDENCES. 
The Disston villa, on Indiana Avenue, opposite the Brighton, is the finest pri- 
vate residence in Atlantic City. The head of the Disston family established a 
large business at Tacony, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. He made saws, 
and the impression got abroad that his saws were the best in the market. They 
sold rapidly, and he grew very rich. He was an early believer in Atlantic City, 
and purchased the entire block between Park and Indiana Avenues, from Pacific 
to the sea. He died before he had enjoyed the beautiful home he had reared, 
and his widow and sons now occupy the mansion. It is an English country 
villa with a pretty porte cochere facing the street. Other attractive residences 
similar to the Disston villa are to be seen on the principal avenues, notably that 
of George Allen, at Pacific and Maryland Avenues; the Turner villa, at Pacific 
and Indiana Avenues ; the Shirtcliffe cottage, on North Carolina Avenue, and 
what is commonly called the Ladner villa, though not now owned by any of that 
family on States Avenue. Some of the finest residences in Atlantic City are 
dignified by no other name than cottage— a word which has undergone great 




ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART. 

changes since its introduction into our language. It was originally used to con- 
vey the idea of something far less stylish than the buildings which are now known 
by that name. The old dictionary meaning of it is, " a small habitation for poor 
persons " The "habitations" which beautify the avenues of Atlantic City are 
not by any means small ones, nor are they generally, as far as heard from, inhabi- 
ted by poor people. Most of them are exceedingly tasteful, and many are large 
enouah to be called mansions rather than cottages. Quite a number are in 
" Queen Anne " style, whatever that is. A few are positively hideous, but the 
majority are exhibits of elegant and sensible architecture. 

ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART. 

This institution was first opened in a cottage on Connecticut Avenue in May, 
i88^, but in November following it was removed to its present location on Park 
Place, directly opposite the Disston villa. The school is conducted by the ladies 



of the Sacred Heart, and is an institution of which Atlantic City may well feel 
proud. The grounds around the villa extend to the beach, and every facility is 
afforded the pupils for sea-bathing and healthful exercise in the open air. The 
building is heated with steam, and is furnished with all the modern improvements. 
Both boarding and day pupils are received, and the terms may be had on appli- 
cation to the Superior. These ladies devote themselves, also, to the education of 
a large number of children in their parochial school on Ohio Avenue. 




REAL ESTATE AND LAW BUILDING. 



THE OCEAN PIERS. 

The piers have been referred to at length in another chapter ot this Hand- 
Book. Besides Applegate's there are two other piers, Howard's Ocean Pier, six 
hundred feet long, and the new Iron Pier, over one thousand feet long, both 
equally popular in summer time. Select hops and excellent dramatic or operatic 
entertainments make up the attractions on these piers when Atlantic City puts on 
its gay summer attire, Applegate's Pier has two decks, the upper one acting as 
a cover to the lower, besides which there is a fishing deck at the outer extremity, 
where there is generally good fishing the whole summer long. The entertain- 
ment hall is above the fishing deck. The Iron Pier has three pavilions, the 
largest having a seating capacity for nearly two thousand people. It was first 
opened to the public in the soring of 1886. Howard's was the first pier built in 
Atlantic City. 



gtopy of the ]V[erinaid. 



THE mermaid is an imaginary inhabitant of the sea, with a head and 
body resembling that of a woman, but terminating in a tail like 
that of a fish. There are many legends about the mermaid, one of which 
pertains to this locality. As handed down by the oldest inhabitant 
'' off-shore " the legend is as follows : 
In the olden time a fisherman lived on this island, as happy with his wife 
and children as mortals are allowed to be in this world. In the morning he 




THE FISHERMAN AND THE MERMAID. 



set his sails and went forth to spread his nets, and in the evening he returned 
laden with fish to his home, where he was welcomed by his family. 

One night he came home silent and preoccupied, and in the midst of his chil- 
dren's chatter he cried, " Hush ! what is the sound I hear ?'' 

" It is only the mermen and mermaidens singing under the sea," answered 
his wife. 

"I heard them to-day," he said; "the song floats through all the air about 
me even yet. What a weird song it is ! Do you hear it ?" 

"I hear nothing," answered his wife. ''You are weary; retire at once, and 
sleep will banish all sound." 

But the song floated through his dreams. Next morning he arose early and 
went out to sea, and as he sailed the sound grew sweeter and clearer. It was a 

113 



114 Hand- Book of Atla7itic City. 

misty day ; the sails of neighboring ships looked unreal and dim, and as he gazed 
across the water a charming scene was presented to him — a mermaid rose from the 
foam of the waves, which at first enveloped her like a veil, and then parted, dis- 
closing her form to view. She was combing her bright yellow hair and shouting, 
rather than singing, a wild, elfish song, without rhyme or measure, but with mel- 
ody enough to make up for the lack of both, and the oft-repeated refrain, " Come 
to my coral home." 

The song and sight so bewitched his senses, that by degrees he became bewil- 
dered, and could not tell the real from the unreal. He forgot he was mortal; he 
longed to go to that coral home under the waves, and ever hear that wild, en- 
trancing song. And so, when she held out her arms to him, without a moment's 
hesitation he sprang into the sea, and both disappeared. 

That night his wife and children vainly waited for his coming ; they went 
down to the beach where the green waves washed the white sands and sobbed 
and moaned as if they could a tale unfold, and yet they told it not. 

But above their ceaseless crying the fisherman's wife heard the songs of the 
merfolk under the sea, and, stricken at heart, she took her children by the hand, 
returned to her cottage, and closed the door, trying vainly to shut out the sound. 

" You are fatherless !" she sobbed. "After all our love for him, and devotion 
to him, he has left us desolate — 

' All for the love of a little mermaiden 
And the gleam of her golden hair.' " 

Next day, when the sun rose out of the sea, the body of the fisherman was 
found on the beach, but his little bark was never recovered. 

" His soul, like bark with rudder lost, 
On passion's changeful tide was tossed." 



Distances fpom Tltlantic . City. • 



Miles. 

Altoona, Pa 297 

Albany, N. Y 293 

Baltimore, Md 158 

Boston, Mass 380 

Buffalo, N.Y 513 

Bethlehem, Pa 115 

Bedford Springs, Pa 314 

Beatrice, Neb 1,497 

Burlington, N.J 79 

Chester, Pa 74 

Carlisle, Pa 186 

Carrollton, Mo 1,271 

Cresson Springs, Pa 3^2 

Chambersburg, Pa 217 

Chicago, 111 883* 

Cincinnati, Ohio 727 

Cleveland, Ohio 564 

Charleston, S. C 846 

Columbus, Ohio 608 

Doylestown, Pa 93 

Delaware Water Gap, Pa 152 

Downingtown, Pa. 92 

Detroit, Mich 743 

Denver, Col 1,95° 

Easton, Pa 112 

Erie, Pa 506 

Elmira, N. Y 343 

Fort Wayne, Ind 735 

Gettysburg, Pa. I95 

Greensburg, Pa 382 

Harrisburg, Pa, 1 65 

Ifestonville, Pa 65 

Huntingdon, Pa 263 

Indianapolis. Ind 782 

Ithaca, N. Y 418 

Johnstown, Pa 33^ 

Kansas City, Mo 1,337 

Lancaster, Pa. 132 

Lincoln, Neb 1.447 

Louisville, Ky 9^5 

Media, Pa 73 

Mauch Chunk, Pa 149 

Milwaukee, Wis 923 

Montgomery, Ala i,097 

Montreal, Can 649 



Miles. 

Norristown, Pa 77 

New York City, N. Y 150 

Newark, N. J 140 

New Brunswick, N. J 117 

Niagara Falls, N. Y 518 

New Orleans, La i,474 

New Haven, Conn 226 

Newport, R. 1 3^6 

Ogdensburg, N. Y 544 

Omaha, Neb 1,380 

Philadelphia, Pa 60 

Pittsburg, Pa 4H 

Pottstown, Pa lOO 

Pottsville, Pa 153 

Portland, Me 49' 

Quebec, Canada ... 821 

Quincy, 111 i,ii4 

Reading, Pa 118 

Rochester, N. Y 437 

Richmond, Va 3^4 

San Francisco, Cal 3,280 

St. Joseph, Mo 1,397 

St. Louis, Mo 1,063 

Salt Lake City, Utah 2,434 

St. Paul, Minn 1,334 

Sunbury, Pa 218 

Scranton, Pa 223 

Savannah, Ga 827 

Toledo, Ohio 675 

Trenton, N. T 9° 

Tallahassee, Fla 1,160 

Uniontown, Pa 420 

Union City, Pa 479 

Utica, N.Y 386 

Valley Forge, Pa 83 

Virginia City, Nev 2,844 

Wilkesbarre, Pa 241 

Williamsport, Pa 258 

Westchester Pa 9^ 

Wilmington, Del 88 

Washington, D. C 19^ 

WatkinsGlen N.Y 359 

Xenia, Ohio 663 

York, Pa 153 

Zanesville, Ohio 5^0 

115 



Customs of the Aborigines. 



•yTY TL ANTIC county was once a paradise for the Indians, a sort of terrestrial 
f I happy hunting grounds, where the untutored child of nature flourished 
I I in his glory and enjoyed an existence free from care, where the red- 
>• I skinned youth wooed his mate under the greenwood boughs and the stal- 
^ wart hunter traversed the forest in quest of game or rested beside his 
wigwam fire. There can be no doubt that far back in the annals of Time the* 
curling smoke from Indian wigwams ascended above the hill-tops and red cedars 
which then marked the present site of Atlantic City. Traces of them still remain 
in the shell mounds in the vicinity of Hill's Creek. Indian implements of a very 
archaic character have been found here, specimens of which are in the possession 
of Dr. T. K. Reed. The fish and oysters, found in abundance in the bays and 
thoroughfares, were highly prized by the red men, and frequently large parties 
would embark in their canoes to procure a supply of these luxuries. Having 
obtained a cargo, they would repair to the nearest woodland and indulge in a 
grand jollification, attended with all the sports and pastimes which were dear to- 
the aboriginal mind. The immense shell heaps that are found scattered through 
the woods and along the beaches, similar to those in the vicinity of Hill's 
Creek, mark the spots where these primitive picnics were held. Tradition makes 
the vicinity of Atlantic City the scene of a sanguinary Indian battle, which is thus 
described : 

A numerous party of Delawares were hunting on the shores of the Mullica 
River. While thus engaged they unexpectedly encountered a party of warriors be- 
longing to a hostile northern tribe, who had come southward in quest of scalps 
and plunder. Instantly the spirit of vengeance was aroused and with drawn 
weapons the warriors rushed to battle. Stern was the strife, for the opposing 
forces were equal in numbers and courage. Gliding panther-like from tree to 
tree, hurling the keen tomahawk, and darting the death-winged arrow, they waged 
deadly strife till the shadows of night closed around them. Half the warriors on 
both sides had fallen, but as yet no thought of flight had entered the minds of 
either party. Crouching low in their leafy coverts and casting eagle glances 
through the darkness, those unrelenting foes watched and waited for the coming 
day. At dawn the fight was resumed with unabated fury. Shouts of rage and 
vengeance resounded from every side, and the wild shrubbery was dyed with 
blood as brave after brave fell. Still the conflict went on till but two of the Del- 
awares and one of the Northern Indians remained alive of all who had taken 
part in the game of mutual slaughter. Observing their advantage, the two Dela- 
wares sounded their war cry and advanced to seize their solitary foe. This 
doughty savage, however, had no idea of being taken. Flourishing his toma- 
hawk, he uttered a yell of defiance and plunged into the river. His enemies at- 
tempted a pursuit, but he left them far behind and quickly gained the other shore 
Pausing a moment to wave a taunting farewell, he dashed swiftly away and dis- 
appeared in the forest. The baffled Delawares then returned to their village 
with tidings of the fatal combat, which was destined to be long preserved in the 
traditionary annals of the nation. 

ii6 



JVEemoranda for Visitors. 



CONDENSED HISTORICAL AND GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ATLANTIC CITY 
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. 



Academy of the Sacred Heart.— See chapter on "Around and About." 

Accretions and Encroachments. — The beach front of Atlantic City 
undergoes a change from year to year, both by accretions and encroachments of 
the sea. The lighthouse was for years threatened with destruction by the en- 
croaching sea, until the Government built a series of jetties in 1876', thereby 
diverting the currents. But while abrasion is taking place at one point accretion 
is going on at another, so that what one part of the island loses another part 
gains. The present site of the Seaside House and Haddon Hall was washed by 
the tides as recently as 1870, and further down the beach the sea covers the site 
of blocks and lots for which deeds were recorded as late as 1865. Some over- 
wise people predict that the entire island will be resigned to the waves ere the 
close of the twentieth century. Like the philosopher Hutton, of the last century, 
they might as well terrify themselves with the thought that the whole earth must 
be eventually washed away by the force of the ram, the rivers, and the mountain 
torrents, until it dissolves itself in the ocean ! The one is about as likely to hap- 
pen as the other, ?nd eitheridea surpasses in sublimity that of the chicken hearted 
damsel of antiquity who wept herself into a fountain, or of the good dame of 
Narbonne, described by Washington Irving, who was required to peel five hun- 
dred thousand ropes of onions, and who actually ran out at her eyes before half 
the task was accomplished. The story is ridiculous, but not more so than the 
idea that this isle, whereon now stands the famous city of Atlantic City, must one 
day be washed away by the sea. 

Amusements. — Places of amusement are as follows . Music Hall, Atlantic 
Avenue above Tennessee; Applegate's Pier, foot of Tennessee Avenue; Iron 
Pier, foot of Massachusetts Avenue ; Howard's Ocean Pier, foot of Kentucky 
Avenue; Schaufler's Garden, North Carolina Avenue; Albrecht's Garden, At- 
lantic below Illinois Avenue; Virginia Opera Garden, Virginia below Atlantic 
Avenue; City Hall, Tennessee and Atlantic Avenues. 

Area of the City. — The area of Atlantic City does not cover the entire 
island, as s )me suppose. It extends from Absecon Inlet to what is known as Dry 
Inlet, a distance of about four miles, with a width varying from half to three- 
quarters of a mile. 

Armory. — The armory of the Sea-Coast Artillery, National Guards of the 
State of New Jersey, is on the second floor of the City Hall, corner Atlantic and 
Tennessee Avenues. That of the Morris Guards is on New York Avenue, be- 
tween Atlantic and Pacific. 

Artesian "Well. — A syndicate of local capitalists having sunk an artesian 

117 



1 1 8 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

well at Arctic and Michigan Avenues, have organized the Consumers' Water 
Company, with the view of supplying the city with pure spring water. The 
depth of the well is 1,150 feet. 

Ashes. — There is no city ordinance providing for the removel of ashes, 
although there should be. Most cottagers and boarding-house keepers store them 
in their yards during the winter and have them removed at their own cost when 
accumulated. 

Atlantic City National Bank. — The safest and most convenient shape in 
which the traveler to the seashore can place his money before leaving home is in 
the form of letters of credit or circular notes, payable at a local banking institu- 
tion. In Atlantic City there are two national banks where letters of credit may 
be made payable — the Atlantic City National Bank and the Second National 
Bank. The former occupies an imposing brick building at the corner of Atlantic 
and North Carolina Avenues, one square from the depot. It began business May 
23d, 1 88 1, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and is regarded as one of the 
strongest banking institutions in the country, having a surplus nearly equal to its 
capital stock, besides paying annual dividends of eight per cent. The building 
is fully equipped with all the best appliances for the banking business and is very 
carefully and prudently managed. The President is Mr. Charles Evans, and the 
Cashier is Mr. Francis P. Quigley, with a Board of nine Directors. 

Atlantic Coast Resorts. — See map at the close of this Hand-Book. 

Atlantic Safe Deposit and Trust Company. — This institution was or- 
ganized in 1887, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. It is located 
in the Second National Bank building, and acts as executor, administrator, 
guardian or trustee, and receives and executes trusts of every description from 
the courts, corporations, and individuals. Colonel Daniel Morris is President, and 
Lorenzo A. Down Secretary and Treasurer. 

Attorneys-at-Law. — Joseph Thompson, Real Estate and Law Building; 
Allen B. Endicott, Real Estate and Law Building; August Stephany, Real Estate 
and Law Building; Samuel E. Perry, 1803 Atlantic Avenue; James B. Nixon, 
Real Estate and Law Building; S. D. Hoffman, Virginia below Atlantic Avenue; 
Charles A. Baake, Real Estate and Law Building; George T. Ingham, Real 
Estate and Law Building; John Stille, Atlantic above Kentucky. 

Author, Poet and Statesman. — Atlantic City has never been the home 
of a prince, but she can boast of her poet, her author and her statesman. The 
pioneer poetess was Mrs. Rachel Rhodes, whose husband was the first alderman 
of the place. She came to this city before the completion of the railroad, and 
died here about 1874. She was the author of a novel entitled Zuleika, and of a 
volume of poems which gained some celebrity. The poetess of the present day 
is Mrs. Sara Louisa Oberholtzer, whose summer home is at Longport, She has 
written a number of works of prose and poetry, published by Lippincott, among 
which are Violet Lee^ Come for Arbutus, Hope's Heart Bells and Daisies of 
Verse. Her winter home is at Norristown, Pa. 

Rev. William Aikman, D. D., Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of this 
city, is an author of some note, having written several works of fiction, besides 
numerous pamphlets and religious essays. Two of his best works are, A Bache- 
lor'' s Idea of Married Life and Life at Home. 

The works of Dr. Aikman and of Mrs. Oberholtzer are sold at the bookstore 
of J. H. Wolsieffer. 

The statesman of Atlantic City is Hon. John J. Gardner, whom Historian 
English calls "the bare-foot boy." He is the architect of his own fortune, and 
his life is a splendid illustration of the possibilities which lie in the pathway of 
every ambitious and industrious young man. He is now serving his fourth term 



Meuioranda for Visitors. 119 

as a member of the New Jersey State Senate, of which he is the recognized 
leader, and of which he was President in 1883. 

Avenues. — The streets of Atlantic City are designated as avenues, the dis- 
tinctive names of the cross avenues being derived from the various States, begin- 
ning with Maine and ending with Iowa. The other avenues, running parallel 
with the ocean, are Pacific Avenue, sixty feet wide ; Atlantic Avenue, one hundred 
feet; Arctic Avenue, sixty feet; Baltic, Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Caspian — 
the three last not being laid out. Of the cross avenues, Virginia (as far as 
Atlantic), Pennsylvania and North Carolina are each eighty feet wide, and 
each of the others fifty feet. There are other avenues running parallel with 
•the cross avenues, the principal one being States Avenue, which is ninety feet 
in width. Atlantic Avenue being the dividing line, the cross avenues are desig- 
nated East and West, as E. Pennsylvania, W. Pennsylvania. The intermediate 
avenues are as follows: 

Belmont Avenue (width, fifty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, below 
California. 

Church Alley, north from Atlantic to Baltic, between Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut. 

Congress Avenue, south from Atlantic to Pacific, above Connecticut. 

Folsom Avenue, north from Arctic to Baltic, above Vermont. 

Fox Avenue, west from Ohio Avenue to Michigan, between Arctic and Baltic. 

Garfield Avenue, east from Ohio to Indiana, above Arctic. 

Irving Avenue (width, forty feet), south from Arctic to Camden and Atlantic 
Railroad, between Vermont and Rhode Island. 

New Street, west from Connecticut, between Arctic and Baltic. 

Norris Street, east from Tennessee Avenue to South Carolina Avenue, between 
Arctic and Baltic. 

Ocean Avenue (width, thirty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, between 
South Carolina and Tennessee Avenues. 

Oriental Avenue (width, sixty feet), east from Connecticut to Rhode Island, 
below Pacific. 

Park Place (width, sixty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, below Indiana. 

Presbyterian Avenue, south from Arctic to Pacific, above Pennsylvania. 

Railroad Avenue, northeast from South Carolina to North Carolina, above 
Atlantic. 

Riddle Avenue (width, thirty feet), south from Atlantic to Pacific, below 
Florida. 

Surf Avenue, south from Arctic to Atlantic, above Illinois. 

Surf Place (width, thirty feet), south from Atlantic to Pacific, above Illinois. 

Westminster Place, east and south from Kentucky Avenue, below Pacific. 

Wood Street, south from Pacific, above Massachusetts. 

Banks. — Atlantic City National Bank, corner Atlantic and North Carolina 
Avenues. Capital, fifty thousand dollars. 

Second National Bank, corner Atlantic and New York Avenues. Capital, 
one hundred thousand dollars. 

Merchants' Bank, Atlantic Avenue, above Illinois. Capital, fifty thousand dol- 
lars. 

Atlantic Safe Deposit and Trust Company, corner Atlantic and New York 
Avenues. Capital, one hundred thousand dollars. 

Baptist Church. — This edifice was completed in July, 1882, and is a neat 
structure, capable of seating about four hundred. The seats are arranged in 
amphitheatre style. See " Churches." 

Barnegat. — Barnegat, a Dutch name, formerly written '' Barendegat," mean- 
ing dangerous breakers, is the name of a bay and inlet on the New Jersey coast. 



1 20 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

about midway between Sandy Hook and Cape May, a village of the same name 
being situated some three miles up a creek which empties into Barnegat Bay. The 
place is a prize for fishermen — so much so, indeed, that the first bluefish that 
pushes into Barnegat — generally near the end of May — is the subject of a formal 
Associated Press dispatch, and is an honored arrival, very much as the first cargo 
of tea from China that reaches London, or the first bale of cotton from the South. 

Bathing. — The following rules about bathing should be carefully observed 
by those who indulge in the surf bath. 

The timorous soul, who is afraid her bathing robes will get wet, and who " lin- 
gers, shivering on the brink," instead of skipping right into the breakers, will 
derive but little benefit from the bath. 

The man who is afraid to wet his head had better stay on dry land. The surf 
will do him little good. 

Before bathing in the surf walk briskly up and down the beach for ten minutes. 
If you wear any lacing around your chest, throw it off and let your lungs have 
a chance for all the air they can take in. Throw your shoulders back, straighten 
your back-bone, and keep your chin up and your head erect. Don't exercise 
until you are weary or are in a perspiration, but just until you are in a healthy 
glow. Now bounce into the surf with a hop, skip, and a jump, and put your 
head under the water, without stopping to think too long about it. Now dance, 
leap, tumble, swim, float, kick, or make any other motions that seem good to 
you. Keep in motion. Put your head under as often as you please. After the 
first time there is no unpleasant shock connected with this performance. 

Don't swim far out, even if you are a good swimmer. The good swimmers 
are generally the ones who go out and are drowned. They pride themselves on 
their ability to swim in to shore, and they forget the power and the deceitfulness 
of the waves. 

If your teeth are of the kind which did not grow in your mouth, beware lest 
a wave knock them out. The waves of the sea are no respecters of sham ivories. 

Don't bathe immediately after a full meal. Let at least an hour elapse. But 
if you are to take an early morning bath eat a few crackers before leaving the 
house to go down to the surf. 

On coming out, run up and down the beach as briskly as before. If the sun 
is shining and not too hot, sit down on the beach and rest a little while. 

The following are five good rules for bathers: 

1. When suffering from violent excitement do not bathe. 

2. When suftering from suddenly occurring, or from continued illness, do not 
bathe. 

3. After sleepless nights, or excessive exercise, do not bathe, unless you first 
rest a few hours. 

4. After meals, and especially after taking alcoholic liquors, do not bathe. 

5. Do not remain too long in the water, especially if not very robust. 

Bathing Rates, Etc. — Hot sea-water baths, fifty cents— three tickets for 
one dollar; surf-baths, with bathing suits, twenty-five cents; surf baths with your 
own bathing suit, fifty cents per week. 

Battery. — Battery A, Sea Coast Artillery, has a fine equipment of muskets 
belonging to the National Guard of the State. An equipment of artillery guns 
is promised at some future time. The commanding officer is Colonel James 
Brady. 

Board of Education. — This is an organized board of officers appointed by 
the City Council to conduct the affairs of the public schools of the city. They 
elect or appoint the public school teachers. 

Board of Health. — This body, composed of seven citizens, maintains a 
careful watch over the sanitary condition of Atlantic City. The President of the 



Memoranda for Visitors. 121 

Board is George F. Currie, and the Secretary Dr. M. D. Youngman. William 
Read is the Health Inspector. They meet every Thursday evening in the Coun- 
cil Chamber. 

Board of Trade, — This Association, organized in March, 1886, has for its 
objects the promotion of trade, the encouragement of intercourse among business 
men, the diffusion of information concernng the trade, manufactures, and other 
interests of Atlantic City, and the promotion and development of the hotel, board- 
ing-house, commercial, industrial and other interests of Atlantic City. George 
W. Sheppard is President, and Alfred M. Heston, Secretary. Their meetings are 
held in the Council Chamber. 

Board of Underwriters. — This is composed principally of the special 
agents of the various fire insurance companies doing business in Atlantic City. 
They meet in Atlantic City once a year, generally in July. The Secretary is W. 
C. Goodrich, 403 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 

Boarding-Houses. — Atlantic City abounds in boarding-houses, many of 
which are of a high grade and elegantly appointed. The inquiring stranger is 
referred for information concerning them to the advertising pages of this Hand- 
Book. 

Boardwalk. — See description in "Around and About." 

Boating Clubs.— See " Clubs." 

Boats for Hire. — At boat-houses on the Thoroughfare, according to size of 
boat and number of persons, from twenty-five cents to one dollar per hour. 

Bradford. — This is the family name of four brothers who have distinguished 
themselves in saving lives on the beach front of Atlantic City. They constituted 
what was known as the Bradford Life Guards. The first of these life guards 
was organized by Captain Paul Boynton in 1872. Of the Bradfords, only one 
of the four brothers, " Ned," is now living. Michael, the third brother, and 
most heroic of them all, died at Jefferson Medical Hospital, in Philadelphia, 
on November 23d, 1887. The Bradfords were born in Pittsburg, where they 
began the work of saving the lives of drowning people on the Allegheny and 
Monongahela Rivers. From Pittsburg they came to Atlantic City, making it for 
several years their winter as well as their summer home. The first evidence of 
bravery shown by " Mike " here was on the night of August i8th, 1879, when a 
furious storm raged in front of the city. In the midst of this storm the schooner 
Flora Curtis was sighted near the inlet, shortly afterward coming ashore opposite 
the foot of Rhode Island Avenue. She was blown down the beach to a point off 
North Carolina Avenue, where she tossed about in waves which deluged her 
decks and sent their foam high into the rigging. But four men could be seen on 
board, two of whom were clinging to the ratlings, another was on the cross trees 
of the foremast, and another lay upon the end of the bowsprit. Darkness was 
creeping upon the scene, and the tide rose higher and higher, driving the crowd 
back from the beach and washing the boardwalk away. When the tide fell, a 
bonfire was kindled upon the beach, which illuminated the sea sufficiently to 
make the Curtis plainly visible a little further down the beach. All this time no 
one dared to venture out to the vessel. Shortly after midnight, however, Michael 
Bradford, accompanied by three other men, named Owens, Livingstone, and 
Donnelly, resolved to brave the storm and go to the relief of the sailors. It was 
a hard row, and the light boat was broken to pieces just as the men reached the 
grounded schooner. They found the crew on deck in a cold and half-famished 
condition. Having no means of getting back, they were obliged to remain on 
board the vessel. At two o'clock that night the Government life-savers went to 
their rescue, and all aboard the Curtis were taken safely ashore. For this act of 
bravery Bradford was awarded a gold medal by the Government. A few years 



122 Hand- Book of Atlantic City, 

ago the eldest of the Bradfords died of paralysis, the result of exposure in the 
surf, and about two years later the second eldest died of the same disease. 
*' Mike" and the remaining brother, " Ned," continued their heroic but unprofit- 
able calling until the former was stricken with the fever which ended in his 
death. Of the famous four, Edward is now left. 

Brigantine Beach, — See chapter on '' Around and About." 

Building Associations. — Atlantic City has two prosperous building associa- 
tions, the Atlantic City and People's. They are in practice better than savings 
institutions, as they induce men to lay by a certain sum monthly, with the object 
of paying for a house. In most cases the investment is successful, and the 
careful workman or storekeeper secures a home for his family in a few years. 

Carriages. — Atlantic City is abundantly supplied with carriages or hacks, for 
which there is a schedule of charges, as follows : Carriages with two horses, 
with driver, one dollar and fifty cents per hour ; carriage with two horses, with- 
out driver, two dollars per hour ; phaeton with one horse, without driver, one 
dollar per hour; cart with one horse, without driver, one dollar and fifty cents 
per hour ; saddle horse, one dollar per hour; carriages to or from railroad depot 
(one or two persons), distance one mile, fifty cents ; additional passenger, twenty- 
five cents; more than a mile (one or two persons), not exceeding two miles, one 
dollar ; additional passenger, twenty-five cents ; street cars and omnibuses from 
Inlet to Excursion House, along Atlantic Avenue, six cents. In calculating dis- 
tances it is customary to make ten squares a mile. 

Catholic Church. — St. Nicholas' Roman Catholic Church was built in 1856 
on Atlantic Avenue, near Tennessee. In the spring of 1887 the building was 
removed to its present location on Pacific Avenue, near Tennessee, many changes 
and improvements being made. 

St. Monica's Church is a new edifice, dedicated in 1886, at the corner of At- 
lantic and Texas Avenues. See " Churches." 

Cemeteries. — There are no cemeteries in Atlantic City, but it must not be 
inferred from this that no one ever dies here. There are occasional deaths, the 
bodies being removed to the nearest cemetery at Pleasantville or to more distant 
places. 

Charitable Institutions. — Children's Seashore House, at the ocean end of 
Ohio Avenue. See description in " Around and About." 

Gurney Cottage, a sanitarium for the treatment of nervous affections and mild 
cases of mental disease, under the care of the Managers of the Friends' Asylum, 
at Frankford, Philadelphia. It is situated on Virginia Avenue, below Pacific, 
and is well adapted to care for such cases as it designs to receive. 

Mercer Memorial Home for Invalid Women, Pacific Avenue, corner of Ohio. 
See description in " Around and About." 

Charities. — See chapter on '' Institutions for the Afflicted." 

Churches. — There are fourteen churches in Atlantic City, of which two are 
Presbyterian, two Methodist, two Protestant Episcopal, two Roman Catholic, one 
Baptist, one Friends, one Methodist Protestant, two colored Methodist, and one 
colored Baptist. The names and locations are as follows : 

First Presbyterian Church, corner Pacific and Pennsylvania Avenues; Rev. 
William Aikman, D. D,, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30, 

Church of the Ascension (Episcopal), corner of Kentucky and Pacific Ave- 
nues ; Rev. Wm. Avery, Rector. Litany and sermon at 11. 

St, James' P, E. Church, corner Pacific and North Carolina Avenues; no regu- 
lar Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. 

St. Nicholas' (Roman Catholic), Pacific Avenue, below Tennessee; Rev. J. 



Me?no7'a7ida for Visitors. 123 

J. Fedigan, O. S. A,, Pastor. Every Sunday and Holy Day, Mass; June, 6.30 
and 9..^o ; July and August, 5.30, 6 30, 8.30, 9.30; rest of year, 7.30 and 9.30. 

St. Monica (Roman Catholic), Atlantic Avenue, belov^^ Texas; Rev. J, J. Fedi- 
gan, Pastor. 

First M.E. Church, Atlantic Avenue, below Massachusetts; Rev. J. A. Dilks, 
Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. 

St. Paul's M. E. Church, corner of Ohio and Arctic Avenues; Rev. C. K. 
Fleming, Pa^-tor. Morning service at 10.30. 

First Baptist Church, Pacific Avenue, below Pennsylvania; Rev. William E. 
Boyle, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. 

German Presbyterian Church, corner Pacific and Ocean Avenues ; Rev. Paul 
H. Schnatz, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. 

Friends' Meeting-House, corner of Pacific and South Carolina Avenues. 

Methodist Protestant Church, corner Baltic and Michigan Avenues. Morning 
service at 10.30. 

Colored Methodist Church, corner New York and Arctic Avenues ; also Ohio 
Avenue above Atlantic. 

Colored Baptist Church, Arctic, between Delaware and Maryland Avenues. 

The hour of evening service at the different churches varies according to the 
time of the year. 

City Hall. — This building is situated at the corner of Atlantic and Tennessee 
Avenues. It comprises also a jail and Council Chamber. The Mayor's office and 
police headquarters are in this building. 

Clergymen. — Rev. Dr. William Aikman (Presbyterian), 120 States Avenue ; 
Rev. J. J. Fedigan (Catholic), corner Tennessee and Pacific Avenues ; Rev. 
William H. Avery (Episcopal), 28 Kentucky Avenue; Rev. William E. Boyle 
(Baptist), 28 Surf Place ; Rev. Joseph A. Dilks (Methodist), 30 North Delaware 
Avenue. 

Clubs. — Bay View Club, house at Longport; Independent Bay Club, South 
Atlantic City ; Kensington Bay Club, South Atlantic City ; Knickerbocker Club, 
1803 Atlantic Avenue, house near Higbee's Bridge; Owl Boat Club, South At- 
lantic City ; West Side Club, Higbee's Bridge, on Thoroughfare ; Higbee Fish- 
ing Club, Higbee's Bridge, on Thoroughfare ; Ours Boat Club, house on Thor- 
oughfare. 

Cost of Living. — While the price of board at the hotels and boarding- 
houses is somewhat cheaper than at other resorts, the expense of housekeeping in 
Atlantic City does not vary much from that of other cities. Rents are moderate, 
and articles of food are about the same as elsewhere, excepting fish and oysters, 
which are much lower. Vegetables, melons, meats, groceries, etc., are no higher 
here than in Philadelphia or New York. As in other cities, if one intends 
spending a whole or a portion of the year here, it is better to rent a cottage, but 
if the stay is to be brief, the comforts of a home can always be had at any of the 
numerous hotels or boarding-houses. 

Council. — The legislative body of Atlantic City is known as the City 
Council, and is composed of nine members, besides the alderman, who is also 
an ex-officio member of Council. Meetings are held every other Monday even- 
ing, in the Council Chamber, City Hall. The Clerk's office adjoins the Council 
Chamber. 

County Courts. — These are held at May's Landing, in the early part of 
April, September and December, under the direction of one justice of the 
Supreme Court of New Jersey, Judge Alfred Reed, and three associate or lay 
judges, Judges Cordery, Byrnes and Scull. The sessions generally last from 
one to two weeks. The prosecutor of the pleas or district attorney is Joseph 
Thompson, Esq. 



124 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. 

County Prison. — This is located at the county seat, May's Landing, where 
the Sheriff" also has his home. The County Clerk and Surrogate have offices ad- 
joining the Court-House. 

Death-Rate. — The deaths in Atlantic City during the year 1887 numbered 
two hundred and thirty-two, of whom one hundred and twenty-seven were resi- 
dents and one hundred and seven non-residents. The death-rate per one thousand 
among residents is 12.5, which is lower than that of any other city in the country, 
excepting Ashtabula, Ohio, which reports a death rate of 12,0 — a trifle less than 
that of Atlantic City. The non-resident deaths are not taken into account in 
calculating the death-rate of a city. 

In relation to the resident death-rate Dr. M. D. Youngman, Secretary of the 
Board of Health, says that thirty per cent, of the number were buried either in 
remote parts of the State or in other States, showing that they or their friends were 
only temporary residents, and yet claimed residence here and intended living here 
while the boarding-house business paid, or while they found employment as 
waiters, or as long as their health was conserved. A considerable percentage of 
these residents were colored, the majority being children. Colored people come 
here for the purpose of doing laundry work and waiting, and their children are 
bottle-fed and neglected. The mortality is therefore very great among them in 
consequence. Many of these people are of a roving disposition and stay here part 
of the year and go elsewhere the remainder, or they come and stay a year or two, 
and this constitutes their residence here. As elsewhere stated, many of our per- 
manent residents are impaired lives, persons who maintain a permanency of resi- 
dence here because they cannot live elsewhere on account of some impairment of 
health. The local death-rate from acute diseases is very low. Of the non-resi- 
dents the great majority are chronic invalids, many of them being in the city but 
a few days or even hours when they die. This is the case very frequently with 
children in the hot season. 

Drainage.— See " Water Supply and Drainage." 

Drives. — Beach drive, at low tide, ten miles ; to Longport or Great Egg 
Harbor Inlet, eight miles ; the Elephant or South Atlantic City, five miles ; 
Absecon Inlet and Lighthouse, two miles ; Pacific Avenue drive, three miles to 
Chelsea. It is intended soon to extend this last drive to Longport, thus making 
its entire length ten miles. 

Educational. — Besides the four public schools of Atlantic City there is 
another private academy on Pennsylvania Avenue, below Atlantic, of which 
Rev. James G. Shinn, A. M., a Presbyterian clergyman, is principal. It is 
designed for young men and boys, young ladies and girls, and the pupils receive 
that careful and thorough training which will fit them for active business or 
entrance into the most advanced colleges. Professor Shinn was for several years 
principal of an English classical and mathematical academy in Philadelphia, and 
afterward of a boarding-school at Waterford, N. J. He has had large expe- 
rience as an educator, and is highly recommended by leading instructors through- 
out the country, including the President and Faculty of Lafayette College, the 
Faculty of Princeton College, and members of the Faculty of the University of 
Pennsylvania. His terms for boarding or day pupils are quite reasonable. 

Two ladies of experience, formerly residents of Baltimore, are conducting a 
private boarding and day school on Virginia Avenue. The teaching is of a 
very admirable character, and the moral and religious tone the best. 

Electric Light.— See '' Light." 

Fire Department.— Chief, Charles S. Lackey; Assistants, P. F. Hagan and 
Isaac C. Covert. 

United States Fire Company, No. i ; rear of City Hall. Organized 1874. 



Memoranda for Visitors. 125 

Atlantic Fire Company, No. 2; Missouri Avenue, above Atlantic. Organized 
June 15th, 1882. 

Neptune Hose Company, No. i ; Atlantic Avenue, above Connecticut. Or- 
ganized October 2d, 1882. 

Good Will Hook and Ladder Company, No. I ; Arkansas Avenue, between 
Atlantic and Arctic. Organized January i6th, 1886. 

First Bath-House. — Long before the building of the railroad the young 
people of the villages on the mainland used to come to this beach in parties to 
bathe. They had no bath-house, but went among the sand-hills to disrobe. Ryan 
Adams, who lived on the island, built for them what he called a bath-house. It 
was nothing more than a frail inclosure of brush. The first real bath-house of 
which there is any account was built by Manasa McClees, at the foot of Massa- 
chusetts Avenue, in 1854. 

Fishing Clubs. — See '' Clubs." 

Friends' Meeting-House. — This place of worship was built in 1872, pre- 
vious to which the meetings of the Society of Friends were held in the school- 
house on Pennsylvania Avenue for four consecutive summers. See " Churches." 

Garbage. — All garbage must be deposited in some safe receptacle, to which 
the garbage gatherer can have access. Garbage is removed every day during 
the summer, and three times a week during the remainder of the year. The col- 
lectors are not required to remove garbage mixed with water, broken glass or 
crockery, etc. 

Gas.— See " Light." 

Health Inspector.— This ofhcer, elected by the Board of Health, and under 
their control, makes frequent inspection of every house and yard in the city to see 
that the rigid sanitary code of the city is enforced. 

Hot Baths. — See description in " Around and About." 

Inlet. — This is a large body of water at the upper end of the island, where 
sailing and fishing boats in charge of experienced captains can be hired by the 
day or by the hour. The sail through the bays or out to sea is delightful, and the 
fishing is generally very good. The rates per hour for parties is twenty-five cents 
a piece. The yachtsmen are prohibited by law from taking more than thirty pas- 
sengers at one time. Yachts can be chartered by the day for from five to ten 
dollars. 

Journal. — This is the name of a newspaper published in Atlantic City — the 
oldest in the county. The office is in the Music Hall building, over the Post- 
Office. It is an eight column, folio paper, and is published every Wednesday, 
at one dollar per annum. It is distinctively a home paper, and advocates what 
it conceives to be the interests of Atlantic City. Tiie proprietors are A. M. Hes- 
ton & Co., who are also the pubhshers of Heston's Illustrated Hand-Book 
OF Atlantic City. 

Lawyers and Physicians. — Quaint Gabriel Thomas, in writing of Penn- 
sylvania and West Jersey in 1698, said : " Of lawyers and physicians I shall say 
nothing, because this country is very peaceable and healthy. Long may it so con- 
tinue, and never have occasion for the tongue of the one nor the pen of the other, 
both equally destructive to men's estates and lives ; besides, forsooth, they, hangman 
like, have a license to murder and make mischief." Happily, the times have 
changed since Gabriel blew his intellectual trumpet and wrote his little history. 
Lawyers and physcians are now quite as necessary in any community as is the 
merchant, the pedagogue or the preacher. Of lawyers Atlantic City has her share 



126 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

of the best, and of physicians there are some who stand at the head of their pro- 
fession in the State. 

Light — Gas and Electric. — Atlantic City is lighted with both gas and 
electricity. The Gas- Works, which were completed in June, 1878, are located 
on Michigan Avenue, near Arctic, The Company has three forty horse-power 
boilers and one sixty horse-power boiler, one large gasometer with a capacity of 
one hundred thousand cubic feet, one with a capacity of fifty thousand, and 
another of twenty-five thousand. The present capacity of the works is two 
hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet per day. The consumption of gas has 
more than doubled since 1883. 

Connected with the Gas- Works, and operated by the same Company, is an 
electric arc-light plant, which was established in the summer of 1882. This plant 
furnishes light for the boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue, besides a number of 
hotels and public buildings. There are two engines and three boilers, with one 
hundred and fifty horse- power, and three fifty-light Thompson-Houston dynamos. 

The city is also supplied with light from the Edison incandescent and arc 
burners by a company whose works are on Arctic Avenue, near Kentucky. 
They have four engines, with four hundred horse-power, four boilers, with four 
hundred horse-power, and eight dynamos capable of supplying five thousand in- 
candescent and one hundred arc lamps. 

Merchants' Bank. — Besides the two national banks there is the Merchants' 
Bank, on Atlantic Avenue, above Illinois, which was chartered under the laws 
of the State, and began business in July, 1885. The institution does a general 
banking and safe-deposit business, allows interest on deposits, and issues drafts 
payable in any part of the world. The business of this bank has shown a steady 
increase, and it is evidently a fixture in Atlantic City. The Directors are men of 
well known responsibility, the President being Mr. Robert T. Evard, and the 
Cashier Mr. O. R. Dunkle. 

Methodist Church.— The first religious services held in Atlantic City were 
under the direction of the Methodists. The building was dedicated in 1857 and 
still stands where originally built, on Atlantic Avenue, below Massachusetts. It 
has been enlarged and improved, however, and will now seat comfortably sev- 
eral hundred people. Besides this, the First Methodist Church, there is the St. 
Paul's M, E. Church, built in 1882, at the corner of Ohio and Arctic Avenues. 
See " Churches." 

Military Companies. — Joe Hooker Post, No. 32, G. A. R.; meets the 
second and fourth Tuesday evening in each month, at Masonic Hall. 

Colonel H. H. Janeway Camp, No. 11, S. of V. ; meets the first and third 
Monday evening in each month in Bartlett's Hall. 

Battery A, Seacoast Artillery, National Guard of New Jersey ; meets every 
Tuesday evening in the City Hall for drill. 

Logan Cavalry Cadets ; meets on Thursday evening in room opposite the Read- 
ing Railroad Depot. 

Morris Guards (organized March, 1887). This name is in honor of Colonel Daniel 
Morris, who is one of the oldest residents of the place. It is both a social and 
military organization, and is intended to be always ready to render any service 
required of a military company and to officiate at the reception of all organizations 
visiting the city in a body. 

Naming the City. — Various names were suggested at the time of the 
founding of Atlantic City, among which were Ocean City, Sea Beach, Surfing, 
Strand and Bath, but the directors could not agree upon any of these. In Jan- 
uary, 1853, at another meeting of the Board, the surveyor, Mr. R. B. Osborne, 
submitted a map of the proposed "bathing village," on which was engraved in 
large letters the words "Atlantic City." This title was at once approved by the 



Memoranda for Visitors. 



127 



Board, and on that day Atlantic City came into existence on paper. It was 
incorporated on March 3d, 1854. The cognomen, •' City by the Sea," was given 
by Abraham Browning, Esq., of Camden, in an after-dinner speech at the United 
States Hotel, before eight hundred guests of the company, on the opening day, 
July 1st, 1854. 

Newspapers, — Atlantic Journal^ published every Wednesday, oldest news- 
paper in the county (established 1859) ; office, second and third floors of Music 
Hall; A. M. Heston & Co., proprietors. Atlantic Review, weekly all the year, 
daily during the summer; John G. Shreve, proprietor. Atlantic Times, weekly 
all the year, daily during the summer; JoHn F. Hall, proprietor. 

Physicians. — Leading physicians of Atlantic City are as follows : Dr. T. K. 
Reed, 24 North Pennsylvania Avenue; Dr. Boardman Reed, corner Pacific and 
North Carolina Avenues; Dr. M. D. Youngman (homoeopathist). Pacific, above 
Illinois Avenue ; Dr. John E. Sheppard, corner Pacific and Kentucky Avenues; 
Dr. E. A. Reiley, Tennessee Avenue, above Pacific; Dr. Rebecca C. Hollpwell, 
1 212 Pacific Avenue; Dr. W. M. Pollard, corner Atlantic and Virginia Avenues ; 
Dr. G. W. Crosby (homoeopathist), 916 Atlantic Avenue; Dr. Julius Kaemmerer, 
loi South Virginia Avenue. 

Police Headquarters. — See " City Hall." 

Population. — The population of Atlantic City has shown a steady increase 
since 1854, and for the last ten years the average annual rate of increase has been 
more than ten per cent. In the time of the Revolution the entire island had but 
ten inhabitants, representing two families. Since 1854 the number of inhabitants 
has been as follows : 



1855 Estimated, 250 

1856 " ^ 375 

1857 " 400 

1858 " 450 

1859 " 550 

i860 Census, 687 

1861 Estimated, 675 

1862 " 625 

1863 " 650 

1864 " 675 

1865 Census 74^ 

1866 Estimated, 875 

1867 " 925 

1868 " 950 

1869 " 975 

1870 Census, 1,043 

1 87 1 Estimated, 1,160 



1872 Estimated, 1,395 

1873 " 1,550 

1874 " 1,825 

1875 Census, 2,009 

1876 Estimated, 2,550 

1877 '' 3.100 

1878 " 3,600 

1879 " 4,225 

1880 Census, 5 477 

1 88 1 Estimated, 6,125 

1882 " 6,625 

1883 - 7,225 

1884 •* 7,500 

1885 Census, 7,942 

1886 Estimated, 8,500 



1887 



9,371 
10,000 



Post-Office.— The Post-Officeis situated on the first floor of Music Hall, At- 
lantic Avenue, between Tennessee and South Carolina Avenues. The mails open 
and close as follows : Mails are generally ready for delivery at 1 1 A. M., 6 and 7 
p. M. Mails close at 6.40 and 7.45 A. M. and 3.30 P. M. The Post-Office is open 
on Sundays from 1 1 to 12 A. M. and from 3 to 4 P. M. The Postmaster isWillard 
Wright, M. D. In summer eight carriers and in winter four carriers deliver the 
mail to residents at their cottages or places of business. 

Presbyterian Church. — There are two churches of this denomination in 
Atlantic City, the principal one (and perhaps the finest church edifice in the city) 
being at the corner of Pacific and Pennsylvania Avenues. The building was 
erected in 1856, enlarged some years later, and very much improved in the spring 



128 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

of 1887. The interior is beautifully frescoed, the seats are cushioned, and the 
church otherwise attractive and comfortable. Its spire is "A pencil on the sky, 
tracing silently life's changeful story." The German Presbyterian Church was 
dedicated in 1884. See "Churches." 

Protestant Episcopal Church.— St. James' P. E. Church was the first of 
this denomination erected in Atlantic City. It was finished in 1869, and enlarged 
in February, 1874. The Church of the Ascension, which was completed in 
1879, originally stood on Pacific Avenue, below Michigan, but was removed in 
1886 to its present location on Kentucky Avenue, near Pacific. See '' Churches." 

Public Schools of Atlantic City.— The public schools of Atlantic City 
are four in number, the oldest being at Pennsylvania and Arctic Avenues. The 
original building was removed during the year 1887, and a new brick building 
erected on the site at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. It contains twelve 
rooms. The other buildings are on Indiana Avenue, near Arctic, Texas Avenue 
and Arctic, and Arctic Avenue, near New Jersey. The Indiana Avenue building 
has eight departments, the Texas Avenue building four departments, and the 
New Jersey Avenue building four departments. Atlantic City has accommoda- 
tions for nearly two thousand children. 

The improvements to school property in this city during the year 1887 cost 
about thirty-two thousanddoUars. The buildings are well heated, comfortably 
furnished, and connected with the sewer system. 

It has been truly said that no more cogent reason is required to show the sal- 
ubrity of the climate and the desirability of Atlantic City as an abiding place for 
all who esteem health a blessing than the number of children born within the 
island's sandy rim. When the school-bell calls them from home they swarm 
along the streets as numerous as fiddlers on the margin of a salt pond. 

Railroad Stations. — West Jersey and Atlantic, South Carolina Avenue, 
above Atlantic. 

Camden and Atlantic, South Carolina Avenue, between Atlantic and Arctic. 

Philadelphia and Atlantic City, Atlantic Avenue, between Arkansas and Mis- 
souri Avenues. 

Longport and South Atlantic City, corner Arkansas and Atlantic Avenues. 

Reading News Company. — This Company controls the distribution of 
newspapers and periodicals on the Reading Railroad and branches, besides having 
a number of stands, where the Hand-Book of Atlantic City is always on sale. 
The headquarters of the Company in Philadelphia is at the Ninth Street Station. 
The local manager is Mr. Frank Woodward, whose office is in the railroad station. 

Sea Breezes. — No phenomena connected with the sea is more interesting, or 
the effect more enjoyable, than the sea-breeze. Its diurnul, unfailing regularity is 
a wonder and blessing to mankind. It commences to blow about 10 o'clock in 
the morning and continues throughout the day till late in the evening. It is 
caused by the alternate unequal distribution of heat upon the land and sea, or the 
alternate radiation from those surfaces. It is laden with saline particles, pure, 
refreshing and invigorating, toning up the debilitated system, promoting the ap- 
petite, and conducing to blissful repose and restorative slumber. The sea-breeze 
is felt on the coasts of all maritime countries, without which many of them would 
be uninhabitable. 

Sea Gulls and Clams. — At times the ocean flows in like a river, leaving a 
fringe of foam along the beach as it recedes; and again, after a storm, it comes 
booming in with battling, foaming waves as far as the eye can see. Then the sea 
gulls gather along the shore, now riding on the waves and now dashing through 
the spray, now wading in the water and now suddenly rising into the air, and as 
suddenly dropping on the sand. What is the object of these movements? When 



Me7?ioranda for Visitors. 129 

the waves are high clams are washed up on the beach and left there. They im- 
mediately put out their little claws and use them as spades to bury themselves 
from sight and danger. If a gull should approach they close their shells for pro- 
tection The bird, thus set at defiance, pounces upon the clam, rises with it m 
the air to the height of thirty or forty feet, and then drops it on the hard sand, 
when the shell is broken, making it an easy prey for its ravenous enemy. 

White bird of the tempest; O, beautiful thing! 
With the bosom of snow, and the motionless wing; 
Now sweeping the billow, now floating on high, 
Now bathing thy plumes in the light of the sky ; 
Now poising o'er ocean thy delicate form ; 
Now breasting the surge with thy bosom so warm. 

Second National Bank.— The Second National Bank began business 
Tanuarv i ;, 1887, with a capital of $100,000. A massive brick and stone build- 
ing of unique design, was erected at the corner of New York and Atlantic Ave- 
nue's This bank began business with every promise of soon becoming another 
of the foremost banking institutions of the State. It is managed by a Board ot 
thirteen Directors, with Mr. George F. Currie as President, and Mr. J. G. Ham- 
mer as Cashier, 

Secret Societies.— There are a number of secret and other societies in this 
city of which the following is believed to be a complete list : 

Trinity Lodge, No. 79, F. and A. M. ; meets first and third Tuesday evenings 
in Masonic Hall, Atlantic, above North Carolina Avenue. , tt iwi, 

American Star Encampment, No. 8, I. O. O. F.; meets in Bartlett s Hall the 
first and third Monday evening in each month. . 

American Star Lodge, No. 148, L O. O. F. ; meets on Thursday evenmgs in 

Masonic Hall. , . • •», > tj n 

Atlantic Lodge, No. 5, I. O. M. ; meets on Thursday evening in Mason s Hall. 
Seaside Division, No. 142, S. of T. ; meets on Tuesday evenings m Bartlett s 

Atlantic City Council, No. 478, Royal Arcanum, meets on first and third Friday 
in each month in Bartlett's Hall. j .u- j t- j„„ 

Atlantic City Council, No. 45, Sons of Progress ; meets first and third Tuesday 
evenings in each month in Mason's Hall. . . n, , tt 11 

Webster Lodge, No. 92, K. of P. ; meets Wednesday evenings in Mason s Hall. 

Pequod Tribe, No. 47, I. O. R. M. ; meets on Friday evemngs in Masonic 

Ocean Castle, No. il. Knights of the Golden Eagle; meets on Monday even- 
ings in Masonic Hall. ^ , • • Al 
Ocean Commandery, No. 3, K. G. E. ; meets on Tuesday evenings in Al- 

brecht's Hall. ,,.,>, , cc 

Fireman's Relief Association ; meets monthly in the Mayor s office 
Women's Christian Temperance Union ; meets every Thursday afternoon in 

Keystone Hall, Indiana and Atlantic Avenues. . , ^ l,. 

Atlantic Circle, No. 12, Ladies of the Grand Array of the Republic ; meets on 

the first and third Friday evenings of each month in Bartlett's Hall. 

Lyra Singing Society ; meets at Exchange Place, on South Carolina Avenue, 

on Wednesday evenings. ^ •, i.t * ^ 

American Legion of Honor, George F. Currie Council, No. 1075 ; meets over 

Wolsieffer's store on the second and fourth Wednesday evening of each month. 
Ocean Spray Lodge, No. 20, M. L. ; meets every Tuesday evening m Bart- 

^AUantic Lodge, No. 10, A. O. U. W. ; meets in Bartlett's Hall on the first and 
third Wednesday evenings of each month. , 

Branch No. 223, Order of Iron Hall; meets over 1022 Atlantic Avenue, on 
the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of each month. 



130 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. 

Signal Service. — See chapter on "Around and About" in this Hand- 
Book. 

Signal Station. — See description in ^'Around and About." 

Storm Scenes. — Nowhere else on the coast of this country can an ocean 
storm be seen to better advantage than in Atlantic City, and one who has looked 
upon Old Ocean during a nor'easter, with the surf rolling in grandly, under and 
beyond the boardwalk, has learned something of the forces of Nature, and 
witnessed her tragic performance in a theatre whose resources are grand beyond 
the power of man to describe. 

Streets. — See "Avenues," 

Telegraph Companies. — The offices of the Western Union Telegraph 
Company are as follows : Main office, Atlantic Avenue, above Pennsylvania, open 
from 7.30 to 10 p. M. There is also an office at the Hotel Brighton for the ex- 
clusive use of the guests at this house, which is open from 8 A. M. to 8 P. M., and 
on Sundays from 8 to 9 A. M., i to 2 P. M., and 5 to 6 p. M. The telegraph 
facilities of Atlantic City are inadequate to the needs of the place. 

Telephone Office. — Second story of Bank Building, corner of Atlantic and 
North Carolina Avenues. Open day and night. Connections with all parts of the 
city, the principal hotels, Longport, Brigantine, Philadelphia, and other cities. 

Thoroughfare. — See description in "Around and About." 

Union News Company. — This Company controls the distribution of the 
newspapers and periodicals on the West Jersey and Camden and Atlantic Rail- 
roads, besides having a number of stands throughout the city, where the Hand- 
Book OF Atlantic City is always on sale. The headquarters of the Company 
is in Philadelphia, adjoining the Broad Street Station. The local manager is Mr. 
Michael Sweeney, whose office is in the depot building. 

Vital Statistics. — The Board of Health has general charge of the vital 
statistics, and the Secretary forwards an annual return of the number of deaths, 
both resident and non-resident, to the State Board of Health. See " Death 
Rate" and chapter on " Mortuary Statistics." 

Volunteer Life Guards. — Bradford's, on beach, between New York and 
Indiana Avenues; Rutter Brothers, on beach, foot of States Avenue; Charles E. 
Clark, on the beach, above Missouri Avenue ; J. W. Langley, on beach, below 
Missouri Avenue. 

Water Supply and Drainage. — Atlantic City now has a two-fold water 
supply. Many houses have cemented cisterns or wooden tanks in which water 
distilled from the clouds is preserved pure and sweet for use when required. 
When carefully kept, and especially when filtered, rainwater is entirely reliable, 
and usually affijrds an adequate supply for drinking and culinary purposes. But 
water-works of the most elaborate character were built, and spring water intro- 
duced from the mainland, seven miles distant, in June, 1882. A standpipe one 
hundred and thirty-five feet high, having a capacity of five hundred thousand gal- 
lons, insures at all times an abundant supply for every purpose, including the 
sprinkling of streets and extinguishing of fires. 

This place promises to be hereafter the best drained city on the Atlantic coast. 
Years ago provision was made for getting rid of the surface water, and since the 
compulsory filling up of low lots, there has been little ground for complaint in this 
respect. All garbage has long been and still is removed daily in closely covered 
barrels. Other refuse and excreta have for some years past been stored tempo- 
rarily in carefully constructed vaults with excellent ventilating arrangements, and 
removed at frequent intervals beyond the city limits during the latter part of the 
night by odorless excavating apparatus. An improved system of underground 



Memoranda for Visitors. 131 

sewerage, adopted by the Board of Health and City Council after a very careful 
study of various rival plans, is now in successful operation. 

"Water Works, — The Atlantic City Water Works are situated on the main- 
land, near Pleasantville, six miles from the city, the water supply being obtained 
from a stream of spring water in the vicinity, augmented by a system of wells, 
numbering over one hundred. The company has a secondary pumping station 
near Absecon, supplied from a pond in the vicinity, which is used during the 
summer months only. Its engine power or pumping capacity is one million five 
hundred thousand gallons every twenty-four hours, while that of the main pump- 
ing station is eight million gallons. The water is conveyed through two lines of 
pipe laid across the meadows to the standpipe at Baltic and Ohio Avenues, the 
capacity of which is five hundred thousand gallons. The consumption of water 
last year in Atlantic City was over two hundred and fifty million (250,000,000) 
gallons. The present year will show a large increase in the consumption. The 
President of the Company is Walter Wood, of Philadelphia. Mr. George T. 
Prince is Superintendent, 

A syndicate composed of leading citizens has sunk an artesian well at Arctic 
and Michigan Avenues with a view of supplying the city with water. The pipes 
are down to a depth of eleven hundred and fifty feet, and there is a large flow of 
pure water. 

Whales. — The journals of the old navigators refer to great numbers of whales 
found along the entire Jersey coast. The first white inhabitants of this island 
were doubtless whalers or whalemen from Long Island. The capturing of the 
great aquatic mammal to secure the " oyle and bone" was profitable in those 
days, whales being so numerous that nothing more than small boats were neces- 
sary. The houses of the whalemen were generally on the beaches, where they 
had their apparatus for securing the oil and places for storing the bone. It is 
recorded that about eighty-five years ago an immense whale stranded on the bar 
and was towed into the inlet. Less than fifty years ago a smaller whale came 
ashore on " Point of Beach," and portions of the skeleton were washed out 
twenty years ago by a storm tide. On February 2d, 1887, a grampus whale was 
captured at the lower end of the city, the receding tide having left it in a shallow 
washout on the beach, from which it was unable to escape. It was killed by 
Stacy Mason and William Timson, and being purchased by Joseph Fralinger, it 
was exhibited for several weeks at the foot of South Carolina Avenue. It was a 
female, measuring twelve feet in length and weighing twelve hundred pounds. 
Concerning this curiosity. Prof, Angelo Heilprin, of the Philadelphia Academy 
of Natural Sciences, wrote to the Public Ledger of that city as follows : " It is a 
form practically unknown on this side of the Atlantic, and, indeed, as far as I 
have been able to determine, one which has never before been noted as occurring 
on the American coast. It is the variety known to naturalists as Grampus Risso- 
afius, Risso's dolphin, a form peculiar to the Mediterranean and adjoining seas, 
and first described in 1812. The animal is apparently of full size, and is readily 
distinguished from other allied cetacian forms by the peculiar slaty lines which 
traverse the body in all directions. Its occurrence on our coast is an interesting 
feature in geographical distribution and proves the impracticability of drawing 
sharp lines of demarkation in the delimitation of marine faunas." This whale 
was also exhibited in Philadelphia, and was pronounced a rare curiosity by lead- 
ing naturalists of New York, Philadelphia and Washington. It was subsequently 
preserved by a taxidermist. 

Yachtmen's Association. — The yachtmen of Atlantic City organized an 
Association for mutual protection in 1884. The membership is about one hun- 
dred, and includes most of those who are the owners or masters of yachts at the 
Inlet. A State law prohibits the yachtmen from carrying more than thirty pas- 
sengers on a single yacht at one time. 



Atlantic City flotels. 




ROBABLY no city in the 
country has as many hotels 
and boarding-houses as At- 
lantic City, and, while we 
have much pride and satis- 
faction in the fact that this is a 
thriving city of ten thousand 
permanent inhabitants, it is as 
a cosmopolitan winter and sum- 
mer resort for invalids and 
pleasure-seekers that the place 
is most widely known. Be- 
ginning more than a decade 
ago, Atlantic City has become 
known no less as a fashionable 
place of refuge from the pierc- 
ing cold of winter, than as a 
cool retreat from the swelter- 
ing heat of summer, and this 
result is due, first, to the attrac- 
tions and benefits of the climate, 
which is warmer than that of 
Charleston in winter and cooler 
than that of Boston in summer, 
and, secondly, to the capacity, 
elegance, and extent of her 
hotels. In fact, the hotels and 
boarding-houses of Atlantic 
City are a significant feature of its desirable qualities. It can truly be said of 
this place, as of no other resort on the coast, that of hotels there is *' near a 
whole city full." A number of these houses take rank with the first-class hotels 
of the country. Many of them are open throughout the year, and are thoroughly 
adapted for winter and spring, as well as for summer use. 

Besides those enumerated below, there are in Atlantic City dozens of other 
smaller hotels and boarding-houses which, in summer, devote their surplus rooms 
and best attention to guests, and the excellent accommodations thus afforded are 
much appreciated by those who visit the City by the Sea. The fact that, com- 
pared with the practices which obtain at most watering places on the coast, the 
cost of summering here seems insignificant, doubtless has much weight with those 
who do not care to spend a year's earnings for a month's summering. 
132 



Hind Book of Atlantic Citi. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



"An Excellent Account of Atlaniic City's Many Attractions." 



Its handy torm, large type, ana correct maps 
are meritorious points. And a table of hotel rates 
and capacity are other good features.— Evening 
Post, New York. 

The compiler is to be commended for providing 
the public with such a meritorious compendium oi 
information about one of the most popular 
American seaside resorts.— Baltimore Americas. 

It Is elegantly and carefully gotten up, and is 
a complete guide to places of interest, besides 
containing nmch other valuable information.— 
Bridgeton Chi'onicle. 

It Is a complete and creditable production. I*^ 
gives a remarkable and interesting amount of 
information about that place of varied attractions 
—Trenton State Gazette. 

It is a book of 175 pages of information to those 
contemplating a trip to the charming city by the 
sea, and a pleasant reminder to those who have 
ah-eady enjoyed the treat. It is a practical and 
reliable guide book.— Mount Holly Mirror. 

Mr. A. M. Ileston's Illustrated Hand Book of 
Atlantic City is out betimes with all its pristine 
completeness and attractiveness. It is a capital 
guide book.— Newark Daily Advertiser. 

It has a great deal of valuable and useful infor- 
mation between its covers; treats upon all the 
topics of the city and tells the prices of board, ca- 
pacity of hotels and many other things the visitor 
wants to know before leaving home.— Doylestown 
Intelligencer. 

The cover is refreshing In Itself, and we predlc' 
for the book a large sale and wide appreciation, 
as it contains just what people most wish to 
know, told in a blight and brezzy yet concise 
manner. Readers cannot but enjoy it, and in 
their hearts thank the author.— Home Journal, 
New York. 

It is one of the most valuable and attractive 
books of its kind that have yet been published.— 
Boston Com-ier. 

It is replete with facts and Information with 
which every visitor should make himself acquain- 
ted respecting the most popular watering place 
in the country.— Camden Democrat. 

It is brimful of interesting facts about the City 
by the Sea— its historv. various points of Interest, 
the rates of different hotels, and maps showing 
the entire plan of the city and the location of all 
•Cue resorts along the Jersey coast.— West Jersey 

) T' S'-% 



It is handsomely printed. Is nued with valuable 
information, and is a reliable guide to every place 
of interest.-' i^hiladelphia Evening Telegraph. 

It contains an excellent map ot Atlantic City 
on the front, showing the location of hotels, 
public buildings, railroad depots, prominent 
cottages, etc., and at the end is a map of Kew 
Jersey, showing routes to Atlantic City and other 
great resorts on the coast. There are many new 
illustrations, some of which are very fine, being 
drawn expressly for this work.— Bridgeton Dally 
Star. 

It is admirably written, and the author appar- 
ently covers everything of interest peitaining to 
Atlantic City.— \Voodbm-y Constitution. 

The book Is profusely Illustrated, and the 
letter-press, paper and typographical taste are all 
in keeping with the excellence and variety of 
the contents.— Cape May Gazette. 

Atlantic City will never know how great it 
really is until it reads this book.— Philadelphia 
inquirer. 

It is a very Interesting and authentic little 
volume.— Mount Holly News. 

It wlU be of special value to all who visit the 
seashore. It contains a complete map of the city, 
description of the leading hotels, a compre- 
hensive description oi; the city, its advantages 
and environments, and is superbly Illustrated.— 
West Chester Republican. 

It is profusely illustrated and contains a mass of 
inlonr.ation of special ihterest to the visltoi-s to 
Atlantic City.— Monmouth Democrat. 

It is profusely illustrated and the publication Is 
a credit to Atlantic City.— Salem South Jei-seyman. 

The work contains a vast amount of valuable 
iniormation, calculated to aid the tourist and 
summer watering-place hunter. It also gives a 
complete history of the rise and progress of this 
now famous seaside resort.— St. Augustine (Fla.) 
m-ess. 

This Hand Book contains just what every 
visitor as well as resident ought to know re- 
specting the greatest watering-place In the 
country.— PhUadelphia Call. 

Its advantages consist mainly In the combina- 
tion of coiiijtreheiisiveness of matter, conciseness 
of execution, handiness of size, and cheapness of 
orlce, with clearness of type and general excel- 
lence ot riroduction.— Boston Transcript. 



Unsurpassed as a Resort for Health, Rest or Pleasure. 






^ 



^^ 



